FEMA will inspect flood damage/ El Paso County draws up estimate:

Arnie Lavelett, tour guide?

You bet. Lavelett, division commander of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office emergency services division, hopes to be conducting tours of the region's hot spots - damp, damaged spots, actually - for visitors from the federal government today or Wednesday. Lavelett is awaiting a visit from one of six Federal Emergency Management Agency damage-assessment teams that are in the state to survey flood damage caused by the storms two weeks ago.

"It's my understanding that they'll be looking at each of the 10 counties affected," including El Paso County, Lavelett said.

The FEMA teams began their Colorado visit in the La Junta area, site of the worst flooding.

To prepare for the FEMA visit, Lavelett and his staff have compiled an itemized countywide damage estimate, excluding the city of Colorado Springs. The official damages so far: $14.8 million.

"I'm sure that will increase," Lavelett said Monday. "We don't have a real good handle on private damage - it continues to come in all the time."

The hardest-hit locales and the ones most likely to be visited by FEMA: Manitou Springs ($4 million), Fountain ($2.2 million) and Palmer Lake ($910,000).

An estimated 100 farms throughout the county suffered damages to crops, structures and irrigation ditches totaling $4.25 million.

The pipeline breaks that had been causing as much as 8 million gallons of untreated sewage to be pumped into Fountain Creek since April 30 have been repaired. Construction of a new pipeline and repairs to two other breaks were completed late Saturday night, said Colorado Springs Utilities officials.

Manitou Springs residents are being told to continue boiling their drinking and cooking water at least through Friday for precautionary health reasons. Manitou officials have scheduled a town meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Hall to answer residents' questions about flood-related issues.

- Scott Smith may be reached at 636-0232 or scotts@gazette.com

Story editor Jeff Thomas; Headline by Sarah Marquardt

@CUTLINE: Mary Kelley/The Gazette - Torn-up asphalt and rock are all that remain of Canon Avenue in Manitou Springs where it intersects Alpine Trail after floodwaters devastated the area last week.

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