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CASCADE, COLO. -- Officials are analyzing soil and vegetation in Waldo Canyon Fire burn areas to determine what impact it will have on nearby residents.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team, made up of about 25 scientists, are studying the flood dangers and erosion possibilities. Officials said erosion is inevitable and are looking to minimize potential damage.

"One of the values we're really concerned about is roads and infrastructure, like culverts and that sort of thing. So what we do is we come out here and actually look at just about every single culvert out on the forest that's below our burned area and we evaluate it," Dana Butler, a hydrologist with Pike National Forest and co-team leader of the BAER team, said.

Butler said increased flooding could lead to mudslides along roads and into neighborhoods.

"What ends up happening is big boulders, trees, all these burnt trees can fall over get in these drainages, move downhill very quickly and then cause debris dams and then cause roads to fail and perhaps failures onto Highway 24 or into neighborhoods," Butler said.

Scientists are also taking soil samples to determine how badly the soil was burnt. They said the burned areas range from mildly burnt to severely burnt and it will take years for soil to be repaired.

They are encouraging everyone to remain alert and want homeowners near the burn areas to purchase flood insurance if they don't have it already. President Obama signed a law Tuesday waiving the 30-day waiting period for some homeowners near the Waldo Canyon Fire and High Park Fire burn areas. That means if they purchase flood insurance, it will go into effect right away, rather than a month later.

The BAER team is focused on short term solutions such as laying straw or wood mulch. Other options may include enlarging culverts and placing sandbags on rails.

"This is burned area emergency response. We're not talking about planting trees, we're not doing long term, we're talking about within the next two weeks what can we do to try to mitigate increased flows and effects on the community?" Butler said.

The team will also pass along their findings to the U.S. Geological Service, which will use it to predict landslides and mudflows. A few mudslides have already been reported in the short time since rain began falling again in Colorado.

Butler said the road to recovery will be a long one.

"I can tell you that this will continue to impact this area absolutely for at least 10 years. I've been working on the Haymen Fire for a long time and we still continue to see elevated flood flows, more frequent floods out there, and we should be concerned for at least 10 years around here," he said.

The team said those who live near the burn area need to stay alert and be prepared.

"The first and best piece of information land owners can use to understand what's going on their land is to walk it and look at it and understand what's happening," Jonas Feinstein, State Staff Forester for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.