September, 2013 – Colorado Flood Series Part II

Nine Inches of Rain in One Day

I wanted to start our series by discussing the different ways in which homes and businesses were affected by the moisture. A lot of situations were unique, but I think we can summarize them into three main categories, the first being rainwater:

Many structures were affected by the rainwater directly. What I mean by that is the actual water falling from the sky. From September 9th through September 16th, 17.15 inches of rain fell in the Boulder area, over 9 inches of that total was on Thursday, September 12th alone. We saw a lot of homes that were affected by roof leaks, leaks at doors and windows, and water intrusion issues at siding and wall coverings. Many of these homes had never had a previous issue, but with the amount of water that fell in such a short amount of time overwhelmed some systems. We also saw similar conditions in homes where there may have been a very small issue prior to the storm, but had not yet become readily visible or known. But once the rains came, it quickly became apparent.

Be sure to check back in for the next entry in which we will discuss how groundwater seepage affected many homes.