COLORADO SPRINGS — The summer severe weather season typically happens from late June through July in southern Colorado. “We just want to make people aware of the different hazards,” said Lieutenant Eric Ruettinger with Colorado Springs Fire Department. Threats include lightning, hail and flash floods.
The flash flood threat is one often underestimated. Rescue crews warn about the danger of driving through flood water covering roads. Too often, they get dispatched to rescue drivers from vehicles stranded and facing danger in the middle of floodwaters. “Now they’re stuck, and the water starts to maybe come up inside their vehicle, which creates a really bad situation,” said Ruettinger. It takes only six inches of water to move a vehicle.
The advice is to think about and have a flash flood plan in advance. It helps avoid mistakes from the annoyance of having your usual route interrupted by floodwater. "You feel like that's the way you need to go home,” said Ruettinger, “We just advise staying out of those flooded intersections. Pull over, wait it out, try and find a different way home. Any of those different options."
There is also the danger of messing around along waterways and drainages with storms in the area. Flash floods can take water levels from a trickle to potentially deadly force in just minutes. "Please parents, take some time, talk with your kids. explain to them the dangers." Even storms in a distance are a threat to areas downstream.
