Greg Lindstrom, Times-Call
A van sits precariously along the edge of the bridge at Fifth Avenue in Lyons Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. By John Bear | bearj@dailycamera.com | Boulder Daily Camera
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Getting your player ready...
A half-dozen members of the Lyons Volunteers, an organization that sprang up after the 2013 floods, sat at a round table outside of town hall on a Thursday afternoon to discuss what kind of work still needs to be done.
“I think this is the first summer we didn’t have constant construction noise,” said volunteer Michael Karavas, who also sits on the town Board of Trustees.
Five years later, volunteers say flood-recovery work is starting to wind down, and keeping the town tidy has replaced fixing damage as top priority. One home in the Confluence neighborhood, sandwiched between the North and South St. Vrain creeks, still needs to be rehabilitated. Seeds, washed down from the mountains by the flood, have sprouted weeds that are a continuing nuisance.
The rains that began Sept. 9, 2013 and continued for days afterward flooded most of the town, destroyed its two largest parks and inundated homes with silt and water.
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Residents embrace near a washed-out home in Jamestown, Colo. on Sept. 14, 2013. Flooding hit the mountain community hard, and residents were trapped for days with no road into or out of town. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Three vehicles lie in a creek after raging floodwater undercut Dillon Road near U.S. 287 in Broomfield on Sept. 12, 2013. The three motorists were rescued after emergency workers secured the vehicles with ropes and the motorists scrambled up the banks of the creek. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
The Big Thompson River rages through the washed-out Loveland Water Storage Reservoir in Larimer County, Colo. on Sept. 14, 2013. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Highway 7 was blown out from the South St. Vrain river as a torrent of raging water ripped through it about 12 miles west of Lyons on Sept. 12, 2013. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)
Kim Schuler carries his wife, Cheryl, across water and mud Sept. 12, 2013. Son Kyle also exits the Boulder home with some of the belongings they could salvage. The first floor of the home was flooded with 4 feet of water. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
Casey Roy, 9, peers through a basement window at her family's home on Premier Place in north Boulder. Floodwater rose to 3 feet in the basement on Sept. 12, 2013. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Sonia Chacon clears debris from around her family's home in north Boulder on Sept. 12, 2013. Nearly every road heading into the foothills of Boulder, Larimer and northern Jefferson counties was blocked by floodwaters or debris. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Susan Elston, overwhelmed after being rescued from the flooded town of Lyons, receives help from a first-aid station at LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont on Sept. 13, 2013. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
The town of Lyons was flooded by the north and south forks of the St. Vrain River on Sept. 13, 2013. Rescuers in Lyons scrambled to evacuate residents because the only bridge into the town began to crumble. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Four Mile Creek, which usually dries up by the end of summer, roared in a pitch of churning water, tumbling boulders, cracking trees and destroying all roads through Salina. Boulder County Emergency Management said more than 1,500 people were evacuated with assistance from the area. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
The Alpine Rescue Team uses a high line and a sling stretched across Four Mile Canyon to rescue Darian Shaw from her Salina home. Shaw and three neighbors were brought across the rushing water. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
Rescuers help Salina resident Douglas Burger, 76, out of Four Mile Canyon. Floodwaters ripped through the mountain town of Salina, stranding residents and cutting off all roads into the town. Burger was brought across the rushing water in a sling with three neighbors. The Alpine Rescue Team, Four Mile Fire and Rocky Mountain Rescue Team worked to get people out Sept. 13, 2013. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
A rescue worker goes door to door checking on residents in north Boulder, Sept. 12, 2013. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
The Big Thompson River overflowed its banks and caused widespread damage on U.S. 34 in Big Thompson Canyon. (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Brian Marquedt, left, and Scott Johnson, right, assist Dan Hull in leaving his flooded home on Hygiene Road in Hygiene on Sept. 14, 2013. "I never would have gone alone," said Hull, whose two cats were rescued earlier. "I chose the people I wanted to go with me. When you get in a life-threatening situation, you want to be holding onto someone you trust, someone who is going to save your life." (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post)
Flood damage was prevalent through Salina. Cars ended up in the creek and much of the ground was washed from under the front of the home of Matt Smart in Four Mile Canyon on September 26, 2013. (Photo By Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
Colleen Keane tries to salvage clothing by washing it out in the gutter in front of her home near Iris Avenue and Ninth Street Avenue in Boulder on Sept. 16, 2103. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
The Colorado National Guard escorts a woman and her child from one of its CH-47 Chinook helicopters at Boulder Municipal Airport. The helicopters were filled with residents rescued from areas west of the city. The National Guard was able to continue its efforts by air on Sept. 16, 2013, after being grounded the day before because of weather. (Photo by Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post)
A junkyard on East 37th Street and First Avenue in Evans sits in rising floodwater from the South Platte River. (Photo by Tim Rasmussen/The Denver Post)
Residents of homes along 37th Street in Evans carry belongings from their flooded homes on Sept. 16, 2013. Evans was under a no-flush order with 260 homes totaled or damaged by the Colorado floods. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Virginia Tucker, second from the left, gets hugs from friends and family after getting to dry ground in Evans, Sept. 16, 2013. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Kenny Horton, working for Burggraf Disaster Restoration, based out of Oklahoma, dumps a bucket of water into a large plastic trash can from the basement of a home near Iris Avenue and 9th Street in Boulder on Sept. 16, 2103. (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Evans Resident Rito Romero checks out the damage in his family's flooded home, Sept. 16, 2013. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
From left, Dale Reeves, Kathryn Reeves, and Trent Mayes help their elderly family member in Evans carry out belongings. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Sgt. 1st Class Keith Bart, based in Fort Carson, hoists two women aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk during a rescue near Jamestown on Sept. 17, 2013. Bart noticed the women as they waved red scarves from the deck of a home. State officials estimated about 600 people were still stranded in isolated areas. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
Standing amid an enormous debris field near the mouth of Big Thompson Canyon, a man holds his head while watching the river, Sept. 17, 2013. A stretch of 20 miles of U.S. 34 between Loveland and Estes Park was severely damaged by flooding. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Araceli Romero was overwhelmed as she went through her home, in Evans, looking for belongings to save after the flood, Sept. 19, 2013. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Scott Koester gets help from his nephew Kyron Brady, left, while carrying belongings from their home in Lyons on Sept. 20, 2013. "We've been here 10 years now and it's all gone," Koester said. "I don't know how you'd save this house." (Photo By Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post)
Sage Ebert and Nick Lutz embrace following a memorial service for their friends Wesley Quinlan and Wiyanna Nelson at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Sept. 21, 2013. Over 350 people joined together to honor the couple who died in the flood. (Photo By Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post)
Kody Payne, 7, and his sister Kaelyn, 10, walk along a dirt path next to what used to be U.S. 36 near Pinewood Springs on Sept. 24, 2013. The siblings were heading back to Estes Park Elementary School for the first time since floods damaged the town. Kaelyn carries trays of cupcakes to celebrate her 10th birthday, while their parents, Judd and Sherami, walk behind them. The community of Pinewood Springs was left an island after the massive flood took out all major roads and bridges. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
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Residents embrace near a washed-out home in Jamestown, Colo. on Sept. 14, 2013. Flooding hit the mountain community hard, and residents were trapped for days with no road into or out of town. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
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