After the Cameron Peak Fire , the Black Hollow Creek drainage area was rated severe on the burn severity assessment . High burn severity means all or nearly all pre-fire vegetation and organic matter were consumed by the fire , Heiden explained . Therefore , not only could the soil be hydrophobic , meaning it were unable to absorb water , but the vegetation was basically nonexistent in these areas , resulting in unstable soils and rapid , high-energy runoff that brought the soil , ash , trees , and other debris with it when it went downhill .
Although just over an inch of rain that day was a “ decent event ” in normal conditions , Heiden said , the storm very likely wouldn ’ t have resulted in damage to the community . Black Hollow ’ s lightbulb-shaped upper watershed and steep , narrow lower canyon created the perfect conditions for disaster .
Sandra Lundt wasn ’ t at her family ’ s Poudre Canyon property the day of the flash flood , but her memories of the event run deep . As she learned of the flooding from her home in nearby Fort Collins , her thought immediately went to the people who lived in the Black Hollow area . Growing up in the small Poudre Canyon community , the property owners she had known for so long were like family .
She ’ d been lifelong friends with one family that lost their lives when their cabin was swept into the river ; four people died in the Black Hollow flood . In fact , the owner of the cabin was one of the pastors at the small Poudre Canyon Chapel , and he and Lundt were set to deliver a memorial service together later that week . The last time Lundt had talked to him , he said he planned to be out of town at the time the flood hit .
The day after the flash flood , Lundt spoke with Colin Barry , a geomorphologist at Ayres who was working on mitigation measures at her property . She told Barry that the cabin ’ s owners were supposed to go to Omaha for the week , so they were safe . “ That ’ s when Colin said , ‘ Sandra , they didn ’ t end up going to Omaha .’ ” In fact , Barry had just talked to the homeowners the day before to set up property owner approvals for mitigation work , and that ’ s when he was told they planned to be at their cabin the whole week .
When she reached the area , she was in disbelief at what she saw .
“ It was just a wall of mud that came down ,” she said . “ It was awful .”
Lundt ’ s property , which is about a halfmile from Black Hollow , was spared any lasting damage from the flooding .
Boldt said even having so much experience working with emergencies , he never could have predicted the devastation at Black Hollow that day . “ I never fathomed it would have happened ,” Boldt said . “ I had never seen anything like that . The amount of materials that was moved , the damage it caused , the lives that were taken .”
Driving back from Black Hollow that day , Boldt said he can ’ t help but think of how close he came to danger himself . “ Driving back , I told my buddy , ‘ You know , I ’ m glad we got out of that river when we did .’ ” They were fishing on a steep embankment of the river and were unable to see around the bend . “ We wouldn ’ t have seen it coming ,” he said .
– Tawny Quast www . AyresAssociates . com 13