We started the year in a severe drought with water restrictions. Our reservoirs were low and creek beds dry. Forests were a tinderbox and 2013 set new records for fires, records that had been set the previous year!
Black Forest Fire was close to home, Dani's home and I moved her out east so I could concentrate on my Emergency Preparedness job for public health. It was a long and busy summer.
Then we hit monsoon season and began getting more rain in the afternoons. This was a blessing at first since we needed the rain. My yard greened up and the prairie was alive again. The two burn scars had issues with flooding, Manitou springs was hit hard a couple times and the EOC was activated. Public health helped set up a disaster assistance center and provided free tetanus shots to those that would be working in the debris.
This last bit of storms coming from the hurricanes east and west of us has brought nearly a week of constant rain. There have been roads washed out, houses destroyed and even colleagues sheltering in place as the creek near their house prevented them from coming to work. Dani's home has been saturated and I've worked to dig little trenches to drain some of the water. Daily hoof picking and then prevention of thrush is about all I can do until it started to dry out. Then I can sift the sand for all the bits of manure that I couldn't get in the sopping wetness.
Dani likes to hang her head just outside the cover of the shed and from halfway up her neck to her face she is always damp. What a weird horse.
El Paso County has not had it as bad as north of Denver...Boulder, Fort Follins, Lyons, Longmont, Greeley, and Fort Lupton....to name just a few communities affected. The devastation is wide spread, our partners up the road are busy, busy coordinating the relief efforts. As we were on standby I couldn't do anything to help.
I wanted to help those horses I saw on the news but I don't have a trailer nor the ability to take off work. I donated to the Colorado Horsecare Foodbank since they are setting up at Fort Lupton to distribute hay to horse and livestock owners. If you can afford it please donate. This helps them pay for gas, buy hay and distribute it to those in need.
It's just unreal what our state has gone through in the past couple years. I'm sure Obama is getting tired of declaring Colorado a national disaster! I hope everyone reading this is safe and well, take care everyone!
1 comment:
I was wondering if the flooding had affected you & Dani, I'm very glad to hear that it hasn't, apart from a soggy pen. It's horrific, poor Colorado has had more than its share of disasters this year.
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