Resilience - Photo Essay: Flood in Manitou Springs, CO

Hi Sondra. I remember earlier you writing what a great out of the way tourist spot this little Manitou Springs area was with its shops and all. I had not heard about this flash flooding incident so thanks for the update. I hope the people get back on their feet with the businesses soon. Colorado has had its share of hardship in recent times and your photos as always captured so well the various moments. What I took away big time from your post was hope and being positive in the middle of troubled times. What was that you ask? The frozen treat from Colorado Custard :) Life goes on...

Good wishes to those affected. Hopefully, they can get things back to normal fairly quickly.

Being faced with adversity early on in life means you learn, grow, and broaden because of it. My Dad's college commencement speak told the group good luck, congratulations but that he hopes they learned from setbacks early in life to benefit from them. Sounded odd at the time and a set up for failure but early, not late in life is when you take chances.

Hi Sondra. Your photos truly tell a story of bad times in Manitou Springs. Losing a home during flood is a Major hardship on any family. Hoping and Praying for all those families in Manitou Springs who lost their homes.

I know some of the places in those photos. It looks rough. I hope you are able to weather the storms and fires, and stay safe.  Good to see a post from you!

Those are absolutely astonishing photos of a tragedy as it unfolds!  But as you say, every great story is one of overcoming adversity.  Without adversity, resilience cannot be learned!  I do hope the weather begins to calm and everyone in your area remains safe!

Adversity though it presents many challenges, can also offer an opportunity for resilience as you pointed out. Thank you for sharing the pictures and your encouraging thoughts on resilience. Here's hoping that things are improving for all the folks in Manitou Springs.

Looks like the residents are not sitting around waiting for the government to save them, but are doing the work themselves.  Wishing you all a quick recovery and may the bad storms spare you in the future.

Great job getting out and capturing the community's resilience. Always good to know that we care about things and are still willing to do a little hard work to get what we love back into shape.

Thanks for sharing your photographs. It is certainly a good time for residents to pay it forward as they lend helping hands to those that suffered damages from the flood.

Sondra - your photos are incredible, and so is the spirit of the people of Manitou Springs. It's so amazing to see a community pull together. I especially appreciate your message of "learning and resilience."  

Sondra, I was really hoping that this got featured!! What a wonderful essay. Thank you for this...I had no idea. Resilient community is RIGHT. Great photos, and of course I'm wondering about the dog!

So lovely to see you blogging. I've been up to my eyeballs in business, am waiting for a family of buyers to arrive any minute!

Enjoy your 4th!

Sondra, I did not hear about this. You reported the news as a true professional, the way I wish the Media would at times like this. I have heard about trashy new gossip about celebrities, and I heard about how much money Obama was giving to Africa for their economic growth, but unfortunately, not about the flooding and the adversity you reported in your post. I'm glad it was featured, and that I noticed, or I never would have known.

I know how frustrating it is to be stuck in traffic with road construction, but to have to leave your homes and have no where to go except sit in traffic like that is terrible. When I looked at the clean up and all that mud, I thought of a third world country with some volunteer missionaries, but no, these are just ordinary people doing what they have to do because they are resilient and they care. As Roy pointed it, it's an opportunity to Pay-it-Forward for all of us who have not been impacted by fires and flooding.

I will keep you and the people of Manitou Springs in my prayers.

Sondra  Great article about Manitou....knowing the people and their hearts...of course they are resilient.

Again, thanks for sharing your photographs. It takes strong people to face and overcome these difficulties.

I spent several days in Manitou Springs last Thanksgiving. I stayed at The Cliff House. It's a beautiful community and I was saddened to see the news footage of the flooding there.