30 Years Later

"The Big Thompson Flood" in the Loveland, Colo., Daily Reporter-Herald recounts the devastating legacy of a 1976 flood north of Denver. Reporter Kate Martin evocatively describes in Saturday's first installment how a wall of water 19 feet high swept through the Big Thompson Canyon, killing at least 139 people and wiping out homes, businesses and an entire highway. On Sunday Alicia Beard tells how the community pulled together to rebuild the canyon. Monday's last chapter by Pamela Dickman looks to the future and whether the community is adequately prepared for another flood. The Web package also includes original coverage from 1976. This is an impressive effort by a small paper to serve its readers with thorough coverage of an event that forever changed their community.