MANITOU SPRINGS — “The rain and the hail, you know, was unbelievable last night here, and it just kept coming and coming,” said Manitou Springs resident, Mary Serviss.
Serviss and her husband were out scraping, sweeping, and washing away mud and debris that was carried by flood waters from a nearby open space, down the street, and then across their driveway.
Road crews with Manitou Springs had an even larger job dealing with flood-caused messes across the town.
The flash flood on Monday night prompted first responders in the city to activate the town flood warning system which includes automated messages to phones and sirens located around town.
“If there is a flood alarm that shoots off in Manitou, at those different speakers, it means it's happening, and it's coming. And so take that seriously, use your common sense, Manitou Springs Firefighter/Paramedic Drew Maurer.
There is also a warning to be ready for more flood alerts.
Maurer said, “We are preparing for six to seven days of weather similar to what we saw last night.”
The risk runs the entire length of the town along Fountain Creek.
The town’s steep hillsides that contribute to the risk are also the best option for a flood evacuation route.
The flood siren includes an emergency message to get to higher ground,” said Maurer, “So really in floods, the safest, most cost-effective, most efficient way to escape is uphill.”
The emergency alert system is built with back-ups to prevent failures, but emergency managers say to also use common sense and get to higher ground if flood waters are rising and you do not hear a siren.
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