Spring Fire burn scar poses flash flood threat, La Veta says it’s ready
It’s nearly been a year since the Spring Fire erupted near the small town of La Veta. Since then, residents in Huerfano and Costilla counties keep a close eye on potential flooding from the burn scar left behind.
On Wednesday, heavy rainfall directly hit the burn scar starting around 2 p.m., putting the area surrounding the burn scar, like La Veta, under a flash flood warning until 5 p.m. Huerfano and parts of Costilla county were placed under flash flood watch until 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
Wednesday’s weather is something city officials in La Veta have been preparing for since last year’s fire.
“Today is the first time we are really concerned about potential floods,” said Tim Tady, a La Veta City Trustee who has been overseeing some of the flood preparations in the small town.
Tady says La Veta been Working with the National Weather Service on a plan, installing stream gauges and sirens, as well as removing brush from the streams.
“We are cautiously confident,” said Tady. “We’ve got a strategy, we know what we need to do during the flood. We’ve briefed the citizens, we’ve had three meetings with the citizens, so we are cautiously confident.”
According to the NWS it takes half an inch per hour of rainfall over a burn scar to warrant a flash flood warning.
There are several creeks and streams that come down from the spring burn scar area. One of those larger creeks, Middle Creek, connects to the Cucharas River. It is this area in La Veta where some of the residents could be in harm’s way should rain come down hard on the scar.
Wednesday afternoon, some residents along south Middle Creek saw a flash flood that brought damaging debris and water.
“The water is really fast moving this year,” said Sue Smith, who lives right next to the Middle Creek.
Smith has never had flooding problems in the past but since the fire, she’s paid close attention to the forecasts.
“We’ve all been encouraged to make a plan with our families let them know where we will be what we’ll do,” said Smith. “I plan to move up to higher ground behind my house.”
If heavy rains lead to flash flooding with dangerous debris flowing down streams and rivers, people in La Veta are encouraged to evacuate to cities like Walsenburg or Aguilar.
Despite Wednesday’s flash flood warnings, things remained calm for the majority of the counties. However, this will not be the last flash flooding threat around the spring burn scar.
The Spring Fire burn scar is the third largest in Colorado’s history.
