That’s when he got caught up in the sudden and devastating Big Thompson Flood, riding out the terrifying natural disaster in a Ford Pinto. As he drove his Ford Pinto wagon up toward the “narrows” of Big Thompson canyon, he became aware that everybody else was driving east. He understood that U.S. Highway 34 runs alongside the Big Thompson River for its length into Estes Park. (Courtesy Newspapers.com)Like this year's flooding in Texas, the Big Thompson flood dominated headlines and news pages for several days. Alan O’Hashi experienced the Big Thompson Flood in 1976 as well as other close calls in his life.