Recovery and Rebuilding

Neighborhood Port-A-Johns

It's been three weeks since the Great Flood of 2013 and our days have been filled dealing with the aftermath. We've left crisis mode behind and we're now in recovery and rebuilding mode. The town and state governments have been hard at work repairing our infrastructure. Estes Park has lost homes, businesses, bridges, roads, and sewers. The smaller surrounding communities of Glen Haven, Lyons, and Pinewood Springs have also been devastated.

A large portion of the town, including our home, is in the NFZ (no flush zone) because sewers were washed away along with the roads. The town is working on a temporary fix for this situation until permanent sewers can be installed. In the meantime, the town has placed Port-A-Johns every block or so throughout the NFZ. Wayne and I have been using our camper loo but beginning today we're using the Port-A-John down the street because we've had to winterize the camper. Cold weather and snow are moving in tonight.

Our most pressing problem is the loss of four critical roads into and out of Estes Park, leaving only one roundabout route, much of which is a narrow gravel road. Taking this route has added several hours to our trips to the valley.

I'm proud of the way Estes Park is coping with the situation and proud of the positive attitudes of its citizens. The new motto is "We're Mountain Strong."