Hello All,
It has been a while. A few weeks ago, I was road tripping across the Southwest when word broke that much of Colorado was being inundated with historic flash flooding. I switched gears and caught a flight out of Houston, Texas and flew to Denver. From there I rented a car and drove north towards Boulder and the surrounding mountain communities. Upon my arrival to do preliminary damage assessments of the area (ie a recon mission for NECHAMA), I quickly encountered streets that were now rivers, bridges and roads that had completely vanished, and water flowing directly into one side of houses and out the other. In some cases, carrying them right away.
Since then, we have been actively responding to the needs of homeowners that have chances of saving their homes. My NECHAMA flood response team has put in almost 1,000 hours of field work since our boots hit the ground on September 15th. I'm incredibly proud of my disaster response partner Dan Hoeft and the rest of our talented team for how quickly and effectively we were able to get on the ground and started with our work.
As of just this week, our team was selected as one of only 6 nationwide response teams allowed to enter ground zero north of Boulder in the mountain town of Lyons, Colorado. The entire town's infrastructure is completely destroyed. Many roads and bridges are wiped out. There is no access to power, running water, gas, sewage, cell service etc. The area is still very much on alert for additional flash flooding as well due to the rivers coming down off the mountains still being swollen. This is an incredibly unstable mountain community where we are desperately trying to save homes compromised by the flash flooding that came down the mountain side. I am incredibly proud of OUR team at NECHAMA for earning this privilege to respond to Lyons. This speaks volumes for the body of work you all have put together over the years.
Having said all that, the overall response here in Colorado has been unbelievable. Local and national first responders, the National Guard, and other disaster responders from all over the country and the world have been burning the candle at both ends towards helping Colorado recover.
There is quite a bit of courage in Colorado. Lucky to be part of the effort.
Mark/Chops
The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days
 |
| COLORADO WILL RECOVER! |
 |
| THE SCENE FOR MUCH OF MY FIRST WEEK OUT HERE. THANK YOU TO OUR BRAVE FIRST RESPONDERS |
 |
| THIS PRETTY MUCH SUMS UP WHAT JUST TOOK PLACE HERE IN COLORADO. |
 |
| LAUGHTER IS GOOD MEDICINE |
 |
| BEAUTIFUL FROM AFAR. CARNAGE AWAITING... |
 |
| INCREDIBLY COMPROMISED INFRASTRUCTURE |
 |
| THAT HAD BEEN A ROAD |
 |
| CAROL HARD AT WORK! |
 |
| NO QUIT IN THESE VOLUNTEERS. BEAUTIFUL THING! |
 |
| NECHAMA SUNDAY MORNING ABOUT TO SEND 40 VOLUNTEERS INTO THE FIELD WITH US! |
 |
| GATHERING LOCAL INTEL AND DOING ASSESSMENTS |
 |
| GARY, A REAL HERO |
 |
| CHRISTINA, SUCH A SWEETHEART, GARY'S BOSS, AND A SUPERHERO! |
 |
| HAVING JUST CAUGHT A FLIGHT DIRECTLY FROM 105* HOUSTON TEXAS... I WAS ILL PREPARED FOR 55* AND TORRENTIAL RAINS. WELCOME TO COLORADO |
 |
| TWO ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY, VOLUNTEERING IN COLORADO DURING THEIR LEAVE. AND GETTING MARRIED IN A HOME DEPOT PARKING LOT TOO! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND CONGRATULATIONS. I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN IT ALL, BUT THIS WAS AWESOME. HONORED TO HAVE BEEN INVITED. |
 |
| APPROACHING THE NATIONAL GUARD SECURITY CHECKPOINT IN LYONS, COLORADO |
 |
| COLORADO... BREATHLESS |
 |
| BEFORE CATCHING MY FLIGHT OUT OF HOUSTON. INCREDIBLE REUNION. THANK YOU FRIENDS! |
 |
| CATCHING A FEW INNINGS OF THE RED SOX-ROCKIES GAME AT COORS FIELD IN DENVER WITH KATHLEEN!!!! MY FAVORITE CONNOLLY CHILD!! |
 |
| CAUGHT A FEW INNINGS OF ROCKIES - DIAMONDBACKS FOR GUAPS' 30TH BIRTHDAY! |
 |
| ADDRESSING THE TROOPS BEFORE SENDING THEM INTO THE FIELD FOR THE DAY |
 |
| EVERY TIME I LOOK AT THIS I FEEL MORE AND MORE GUILTY. AND I LAUGH TOO... |
 |
| BEST DINNER I HAVE HAD IN QUITE SOME TIME. FUNNY HOW THE WORLD WORKS. DAVID ALLEN BERNARD LADIES AND GENTS. |
