Simply put: Thank you.
Thank you to all of the emergency managers and personnel, governmental agencies and private entities and their staffs, elected officials, volunteers and community members who helped keep this community safe, functioning, informed and more during the flooding and inclement weather that just rolled through the area. We know if we attempt to list those who have worked tirelessly over the last almost week in more detail, we would miss someone and regret it later.
We would not be able to weather the storms as well (literally) without your work, dedication and willingness to cooperate. To have made it through two historic floods in a matter of days with no injuries or deaths is fantastic and a testament to our emergency management officials and the community as a whole.
We here in Pagosa Country are exceptionally lucky to not deal with most of the natural disasters and other tragedies we see strike across the rest of the country and world, so when we encounter incidents here, it makes us realize all the more how truly lucky we are in so many ways.
A few things in particularly keep circling our minds.
We grew up knowing about and seeing photos of the 1911 flood (it comes with the territory when your family loves history and the history of our area) and understanding what nature can do.
But it amazed us as we stood on the Hot Springs Boulevard bridge and watched the large amount of debris — including huge logs and full trees, as well as what was evidently wood that had been through a forest fire — rush down our river. It was a perfect picture of the power of nature and one we won’t soon forget.
And we realize what we just went through was minor compared to what Pagosa Springs dealt with in 1911.
We have amazing technology and experts now that weren’t part of the picture in 1911, and we can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been as the river started to rise and just kept rising.
Even with all the technology and knowledge at our disposal, both flood events we just witnessed surpassed forecasts and expectations.
That being said, we have said countless times to family and friends near and far this week that we are fortunate in that we have some of the best, most dedicated and most knowledgeable emergency managers and other folks around. We know that, even if an incident turns into more than expected like these floods or a fire breaks out or anything else happens, they will work tirelessly to protect this community and the people in it, pivoting as new information arises and traversing the county to make sure all areas are taken care of to the best of their ability.
It’s up to all of us to meet that commitment to preparing for disaster — flood, fire, snow or something else.
Randi Pierce
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