Colorado Mudslide: Mesa County

[Ah Pook]

That's a big slide.

Full story at the link.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25...e-by-air-three

COLLBRAN — Town Marshal Adam Appelhanz normally makes sure his patrol car is clean and buffed for the annual Memorial Day procession down Main Street of this town of 400.

But this Memorial Day, Appelhanz's vehicle was coated and spattered with mud, all the way to the windshields, as he followed behind a small cadre of flag-waving, rifle-carrying veterans on their slow walk through town from the Collbran Servicewomen's Memorial.
Appelhanz, like many folks in this ranching community located high on the Grand Mesa above Grand Junction, had been out on Salt Creek Road helping with a search for three local men missing in a nearby mudslide. That mudslide isn't spoken of around here without the adjective "massive" attached.
A photograph from the air of the mud slide on the Grand Mesa near Grand Junction Colorado on Monday, May 26, 2014. (Aaron Ontiveroz, Denver Post)


The slide was more than 3 miles long, a half-mile wide and as deep as 250 feet. It dwarfs the mudslide that buried a subdivision and killed 41 people in Oso, Wash., in March.
But this mudslide occurred in a remote, rugged area that is partially on U.S. Forest Service land and partially on private ground. Three gas wells were in the slide's path, but no structures. No other people were believed to be in an area that is fenced off to the public.

...

[T-Giv]

That is quite the slide!

[Gman]

Was following that in the news. The 3 that are missing were investigating an earlier smaller slide.

[Hummer]

The Mesa County Sheriff has released video of the mudslide taken from a helicopter, and the news conference in which the Sheriff explains the situation and about the missing men. The first video listed below shows (@2:55) a well pad and tanks at the edge of the slide. This area will be volatile and dangerous for a long time. Water is building up within the slide area, further saturating the soil so it will probably continue to flow into the valley. The site is about 2-3 miles from Vega Reservoir.

I've done wildlife and vegetation transects in that area. The north slope of the Grand Mesa is one of the most beautiful areas in the state with lush pastures fingering into forests of spruce, fir and aspen groves. I've thought it would be a fine place to build a home in retirement.

The men were investigating the interruption of water from an irrigation ditch. It's unlikely that any search for them will continue due to the danger and the futility. Imagine being caught in an avalanche of falling trees as the ground slips away, the mountain engulfs and buries everything. Looking at the massive slide I can't help but think of all the wildlife that was surely lost, too. Deer, elk, moose, and breeding birds by the thousands.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA-FAgp21Ds (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-elnk7IUiKg (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDFCEu3i7LM (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gTU4F040gE (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St4RRdWDJwU (Sheriff's News Conference, part 1)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5KzhHaQtuI (Sheriff's News Conference, part 2)


This slide is a little like the Twin Sisters Peak slide (south of Estes) but much larger.

[Hummer]

Here's a series of good photos of the slide with the Grand Mesa and surrounding area.

http://kdvr.com/2014/05/27/see-incre...unty-mudslide/