Residents & visitors thank Manitou Springs for swift emergency response

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - In the wake of deadly flooding in Texas, people in Manitou Springs are singing praises toward local emergency crews for keeping them safe as street flooding swept through the city.

The Manitou Springs Fire Department triggers sirens manually at the first sign of flash flooding, and they were on top of it Thursday.

Everyone we talked to said the city had it all under control.

“We heard the sirens going off inside our RV, and people started pounding on our door, telling us to get out,” said Rachel White.

“We have three locations where the sirens are set up across town,” Manitou Springs spokesperson Cassandra Hessel told KRDO. “One is up off Osage, one by City Hall, and one by the Briarhurst Manor.”

With burn scars, cliffsides, and steep and narrow side streets in a city situated along Fountain Creek, Manitou Springs is full of emergency management landmines.

“In any event, Manitou Springs differs pretty vastly from Colorado Springs,” Cassandra said. “Our teams are very familiar with those obstacles, and so we’re ready to overcome them.”

Flood concerns heightened after the Waldo Canyon Fire, many remembering the sirens from warnings back in 2013 during destructive flash flooding across the city that killed a man.

That’s another reason why officials say they aren’t taking any chances, urging people to download the Peak Alerts app and sign up for text messages and emails from the city, so you receive warnings on your phone in case you miss the sirens. Especially as more thunderstorms are expected to strike the area in the coming days, officials say.

“We still had several feet before it was going to come up over the bridge into the park, so we’re kind of hoping it stays that way,” Rachel’s husband, Jim, is staying optimistic.

With Fountain Creek still rushing, there’s plenty of sediment kicked up. However, the city says that people who live here don't have to worry about their faucets turning off, as they did a couple of months ago.

KRDO13 is informed that the backup pipeline, connecting Manitou Springs to Colorado Springs Utilities, is currently running smoothly.

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