3 months later, deadly Colorado slide constantly monitored
GRAND JUNCTION — The colored lines spanning a graph on Mesa County surveyor Frank Kochevar’s computer screen are flat. Unlike in an intensive care unit, this is good news.
The lines remotely show Kochevar and other landslide watchers that the massive and deadly rock avalanche that roared down a Grand Mesa cliff near Collbran on May 25 isn’t going anywhere, for now.
Measurements from sensors on what is now being termed a “debris avalanche” update every second. The scatter plots and displacement charts show whether points on the nearly 3-mile-long slide move as much as the size of a dime.
If the slide area moves more than 2 inches, an alarm tone will sound on cellphones and a text message will explain why. If it moves 4 inches or more, a different alert will notify the county’s emergency-management forces that it’s time to take action.
MESA COUNTY, CO – MAY 26: An Aerial view of the Mesa County Mudslide from a plane flown by John Stanley The Mesa County Mudslide, which occurred on Sunday evening and is being measured in miles as opposed to merely feet, was photographed on Monday, May 26, 2014. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)