Estes Park is slowly recovering from the floods. A friend of mine sent me this email as an update to the flooding and the cleanup going on right now. It truly is amazing the uplifting spirit of this email.  It will be a while before those roads and bridges can be repaired. Please keep everyone in your prayers. I just found out as of this morning that Trailridge Road, the only road in and out of Estes Park had to close down today because of ice conditions - man oh man!

"Monday Morning Coffee" (Written by "Mr. Estes Park" - Gerald 

I was going to call it something else, but everyone is used to getting the Coffee so I just left the name the same.  I'm sure you have all heard about Estes Park, and the flooding that is and has been occurring.  It dawned on me that not all of you are on my Facebook page or my Facebook Business Page "Estes Park Real Estate".  If you have access to Facebook, then you can get the video's that I've posted.

Estes Park is currently without telephone service.  There are no land lines, no cell phones and very limited internet.  All of the highways are closed in and out of Estes Park.  The only road without severe damage is Trail Ridge Road.  You can leave Estes, but they won't let you come back.  Even with all of these little bitty issues it's still my town so I'm not leaving.

The River around Estes Park was tough, but I don't think we lost any houses.  The Big Thompson Canyon on the other hand will be a different story. They had all five gates open at the dam letting 6,000 cubic feet per second out of the lake.  That is more water than went down the canyon during the 1976 flood. 

The water from Weist Street is pouring over back into the river behind Lonigans.

This is what the front door of Lonigans looked like. Elkhorn Avenue was a river this morning.

This  is the down the street view from the previous location.  You can see the huge flower pots typically found on the street corner washed down the street.

This is the the Post Office parking lot.  I'm sure that huge check I was mailing to you is in one of those two mailboxes.  I wonder how that works?  That blue car doesn't look like it's in a good position either. You can see the river's natural channel between the green fence and the houses in the foreground.

This view of Elkhorn Avenue was taken fro our house.  You can see the river that now calls Elkhorn home.  Tonight the waters have receded and Elkhorn is passable.  It is still blocked off because of the mud and silt that needs to be cleaned.

This picture shows the complex where the water wheel is.   The wheel is gone and it appears it took part of the railing when it left.

We're all in shock this weekend watching the surreal flooding in northern Colorado take place. As planned, Chuck and I had dropped my mom and dad off at the airport, here in San Antonio last Thursday afternoon (Sept. 12, 2013) on their way to the cabin in Estes Park via the Denver airport. We all knew there had been some flooding in Boulder, CO but that's not so uncommon - none of us thought there would be any problems since they were  staying the night in Denver and then driving their trek north to Estes Park. Dad already had alternative routes mapped if needed. This is the time of year where my parents enjoy the last of the mountain summer and then close up the cabin for the winter.

Well, two hours after Chuck and I left the San Antonio airport, word was all over the news and internet - flooding had hit many of the small mountain towns all over North Colorado and the rains weren't going to stop.  I've included some videos and pics from folks who have posted them to show just how serious and devestating the power of flooding can be. As of today, there have been NO casualties from the Estes Park area and we are all praying for the families from Boulder who have lost their own. Mom and Dad stayed the night in Denver and then took an afternoon flight home to San Antonio the following day. We are in the process right now to see how their cabin is fairing. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone with homes, businesses, and those vacationing in and around the flooded areas.

Below is a video of Glen Haven - this is where we took Keith, Marci, and the girls to get cinnamon rolls (see previous pictures in my blog). This poor town will need to rebuild - there's not much left. Very sad.  So much can happen in a blink of an eye.