Last Friday, the team at Parallel Path banded together to aid in the flood recovery efforts in Boulder County. We were able to help Jeremy and his family, who live at the bottom of Left Hand Canyon. Just south of Lyons, the Left Hand Canyon area was one of the earliest and hardest hit areas of what quickly became a massive county and state-wide flood. The flood waters of LeftHand Creek literally split Jeremy’s property in two and left tons of rocks, mud and debris everywhere.
Arriving at the volunteer meet-up site, we learned that the home was on the other side of one of the many portions of US36 that had been destroyed and been made impassable by the floodwaters. As the National Guard worked to start repairing the damage done to the roadway, the Parallel Path team headed off to Jeremy’s house, crossing makeshift bridges to get to his site.
We dug out the 4′ – 5′ of debris and rubble that had buried most of his house and out buildings, but amazingly, had not destroyed them. We were able to remove the layers and layers of mud and debris that were surrounding the house, as well as clearing out the mud inside too.
A portable pump was brought in and we built an intake pond with a make shift dam on a new path of LeftHand Creek that now runs where his driveway once was. Once the pump was running, the inside of the structures could be hosed out, and the house actually started to look like it could be habitable again.
All-in-all, our team was proud to literally “dig in” and help those who had been devastated by this once in a lifetime flood.