It is impossible to imagine the desperation that Elsha Guel must have felt Monday as a flash flood swept her 2-year-old son from her grasp.
Out for their usual evening stroll, the mother and child took shelter under a bridge to escape hail from a quick-moving thunderstorm.
Their temporary haven turned into a death trap when flood waters gushed in, cutting off any escape. Still strapped in his stroller, little Jose Matthew Jauregui Jr. was carried into the raging South Platte River, where he drowned. Searchers found his body Wednesday afternoon, 3 miles downstream.
The tragedy is more difficult to absorb when you realize public officials were very much aware of flood dangers in the area.
Bill DeGroot, who oversees flood plain management for the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, told several news outlets that the design of the Lakewood Gulch trail, with its high concrete sides, was antiquated and in need of renovation. There are plans for fixing the problem but no timeline for construction, he told 9News.
“The plan is to make it a lot wider – it would help with the flood depths and there would be a gradual slope of dirt and grass instead of a tall concrete wall along the path so that a person could easily walk out to safety,” he said.
The Lakewood Gulch trail connects the Rude Park area to a popular trail along the South Platte. Hundreds of children live in the neighborhood. Residents frequently walk, ride bicycles and walk dogs on the paths.
It’s true that Colorado weather can create dangerous and unpredictable situations, and that we all need to be alert to the dangers of sudden storms, especially in low- lying and confined areas.
But it’s also clear that the dangerous drainage problems in the Rude Park area need to be corrected as soon as possible. Furthermore, government agencies around the state need to double-check that similarly dangerous and flood-prone areas have been identified and are on track to be fixed if necessary.
And, while flash-flood warning signs are common in some places, officials should make sure dangerous areas have adequate warning signs so people are less likely to be caught unaware, as Elsha Guel was on Monday.
Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Guel and her extended family as they grieve the loss of a child. It’s a tragedy that should lead to measures that save others in the future.
