Larimer County Declares Formal Local Disaster Emergency to Access Local, State and Federal Resources for the Black Hollow Flood in the Poudre Canyon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Larimer County Declares Formal Local Disaster Emergency to Access Local, State and Federal Resources for the Black Hollow Flood in the Poudre Canyon

The Chair of the Larimer County Board of Commissioners made a declaration of disaster emergency on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, due to the current and anticipated impacts from the dangerous post-fire, flash flooding, debris flows and mudflows in the Cameron Peak Burn Scar. The declaration will be considered for ratification by the full Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

On July 20, 2021, flooding in the Poudre Canyon above Rustic caused multiple mudslides and debris flows on Highway 14, the largest near Black Hollow Road. A significant amount of debris was sent into the canyon resulting in the death of an adult female. Three other adults remain missing.

The flooding impacted multiple structures in the area. Damage assessment crews have begun assessing the damage to those structures, as well as roads and bridges.

"By declaring a disaster, Larimer County can activate our local Emergency Operations Plan to respond proactively to this emerging event," said Lori Hodges, Director of the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management. "It also allows us to access local disaster policies as well as state and federal resources as needed during this event."

The public can access information about the fire in the following ways:

• Follow the Sheriff's Office on Facebook or Twitter (#blackhollowflood)
• Visit larimer.org/poudre-canyon-flooding
• Sign up for emergency alerts at nocoalert.org
• SMS updates from nocoalert.org text LCEVAC to 888777 or FLOOD2021 to 888777
• Recovery resources for those impacted by the 2021 flooding in the burn scar and the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire: larimer.org/emergency/recovery/wildfire-resources

The official disaster declaration can be found here.