As more residents are evacuated from their homes outside of Fort Collins, where the Crystal Fire continues to claim substantial acreage, it may seem counterintuitive to worry about flooding (Coloradoan [2]). But snowpack affects the state's water levels unevenly, leaving officials preparing for drought in the south and floods in the north (Denver Post [3]).

Denver, where 2,000 people reside in a floodplain, isn't entirely protected from dangerously and swiftly rising water, as those who recall the May 14, 2007, flooding of the Platte River can attest. "Despite being a landlocked city, Denver's past revolves around water-related disasters," writes 5280 editor Natasha Gardner [4], who talks with members of the Denver Fire Department's swift-water rescue teams about their intense training and dedication to preparedness, as well as the infrastructure weaknesses that remain.

Steamboat Springs is familiar with the devastation fast-moving water can cause. Some residents of the mountain burg still clearly remember the Butcherknife Creek flood, which damaged Old Town after a 70-degree day in 1984 (Steamboat Today [5]).