Below is an excerpt from a letter received from the Hinsdale County Museum Dated February 1, 2020

“In March of 2019, Hinsdale County, Colorado, experienced unprecedented avalanche activity. More than 55 significant snowslide events occurred. Record amounts of snowfall compounded by debris flows into the primary waterways of Henson Creek and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River created concerns for high run-off and potential flooding.

A Unified Coordination Group (UCG) of state and federal partners gathered to assist our local governments with preparedness, monitoring, mitigation, notification, and potential evacuation. Work included extensive public outreach, an Alert & Warning plan including evacuation routes, installation of a temporary siren, and monitoring of stream flows on Henson Creek and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Volunteers from around the state helped place 17,000 sandbags; additional supersacks were placed around critical infrastructure. A temporary berm was constructed on the north side of Henson Creek and a portion of the Hidden Treasure Dam was deconstructed. Debris was removed along primary travel routes. Fortunately, cold temperatures and snowfall into June of 2019 resulted in high and sustained run-off but few flooding impacts occurred.

For the Museum and Historical Society, we completely evacuated all exhibits and archives, stored these items off-site of the Museum grounds and in Gunnison County, and sandbagged our facilities. The urgency of this effort and helping is mobilize assistance was driven thanks to the passion of Michelle Pierce and Dr. Bonnie Pitblado. Chuck Heald immediately and personally began delivering storage pods which were kindly stored on the higher-ground Breeden property. The Fire Department assisted with multiple evacuations; Mike Carson helped build storage boxes for our most valuable artifacts. Other collections were stored in snowmobile trailers and relocated to locations in Gunnison. The volunteer and professional help to catalog, transport, and return artifacts was made possible by Carl Steward and Leigh Ann Hunt and so many resource specialists.”

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