Floodwaters stay away from Highway 24

A day of rain but no disasters for those living and driving along Highway 24 in El Paso County Thursday.

Past rains have brought flooding and mudslides but even with up to 1 inch of rainfall which began Wednesday night, there were no problems with the Waldo Canyon burn area.

A volunteer with the Cascade Fire Department said they went door to door in the Sand Gulch area warning residents of the danger. One woman voluntarily left her home, but everyone else stayed put, hoping for the best.

Man-made dams were put into place following a flash flood in July that destroyed the playground at Ute Pass Elementary. That flood also nearly took out the bus fleet and almost reached the school. El Paso County and the Manitou Springs School District teamed up to install the sandbags, which are also being used along the Mississippi River right now because of Hurricane Isaac.

El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark is happy with the collaboration but said they’ll be leaning on the state to help provide funding for county road and waterway improvements that are needed in light of the burn scar.