Flash flood warning triggers big loss for arcade

When Alan Kerns hears the siren blasting in Manitou Springs warning of a flash flood, he knows it’s another day of lost revenue for his business, Arcade Amusements.

Arcade Amusements was forced to close last Friday after a flash flood tore through the arcade. Employees are still cleaning up, but the arcade is partially open. On Monday, employees received another scare.

“I got a call from my manager and she said that somebody ran in and said ‘Evacuate. Evacuate. A flood’s coming,'” Kerns said.

But emergency responders say they never asked people to evacuate.

“Evacuations means to leave town. We have not done that at any point. All we’ve done is asked people to move to higher ground during a flash flood,” said David Hunting, a spokesperson for Manitou Springs.

Kerns said, “I don’t want them to get to the point where we better evacuate everybody out of safety and then have it be a five-minute rain and no event.”

If people in Manitou Springs are asked to evacuate, they’ll be notified through a reverse-911 call. Those calls are automatic for landlines.

To register a cellphone to receive a reverse-911 notification, click this link: http://www.elpasoteller911.org/