Summer wildfire, flood potential subject of community meeting April 11
March 28, 2018Howbert Elementary will be the site of a community meeting on flash flooding and emergency preparedness Wednesday, April 11.
Hosted by the Colorado Springs Fire and Police departments and the El Paso County Office of Emergency Management (OEM),
In the foreground, attendees at an April 2017
community meeting on fire/flood concerns listen from their chairs inside the
Chipeta Elementary gym, while in the background stands a row of Colorado
Springs Police officers who were participating in the event.
Westside Pioneer file photo
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Howbert is at 1023 N. 31st St.
According to a press release, topics will include:
In addition, “several organizations will host booths and displays to provide information on a variety of topics related to emergency preparedness and natural hazards,” a press release states.
A similar meeting will be held Tuesday, May 8 at Broadmoor Elementary in the Cheyenne area.
Such meetings have been scheduled annually ever since the Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012, which burned more than 18,000 acres, killed two people and destroyed or damaged close to 400 homes.
Rainstorms since the fire have been particularly damaging because there is less forest vegetation to hold back sediment or rocks or to slow water from going downstream, particularly in the Waldo-impacted Camp Creek and Douglas Creek drainages that flow through the Westside, local officials have explained.
Also, in the press release, OEM Deputy Director Kevin Madsen advises residents that “with continued dry conditions anticipated through the summer, this meeting serves to inform residents of the risk for these local hazards and provide information and resources to prepare their family and property in the event they may need to leave their homes due to an emergency.”
Other information can be found on the city website at coloradosprings.gov/wildfiremitigation or by calling 385-5950.
Westside Pioneer/press release
(Community:
Public Safety)
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