San Juan River hits 14 feet as Pagosa Springs orders evacuation
Forecasters predict the river will crest at 21.9 feet, surpassing the record set during the 1911 flood that destroyed the town.
By Riya Zhao ·
The San Juan River reached 14 feet by sundown on Sunday in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, as the Archuleta County Sheriff's Office warned of potentially catastrophic flooding. Officials forecast the river to crest late Sunday night at 21.9 feet. That level exceeds the 17.8 feet recorded during the 1911 flood, which wiped out most of the town.
The river's rapid rise forced the closure of all roads into and out of the town. Residents not under mandatory evacuation orders were urged to stay home. Emergency crews advised those in low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo, and Piedra rivers to move to a designated shelter at a local church.
Katie German, owner of Bruin Coffee, reported that downtown had been evacuated and street flooding was present. She expressed concern that the single bridge into town might wash out, preventing trucks carrying food and fuel from entering. Town officials had lifted an evacuation order from the previous week before reimposing it on Saturday.
Heavy rainfall also triggered mandatory evacuations in northern New Mexico and central Arizona. In Sedona, Arizona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave immediately as floodwaters trapped multiple people in their homes. The Sedona Fire Department shared video of powerful waters inundating vehicles and rushing past homes.
Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson, stated that the region is receiving two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days. The weather service expects as much as 4 inches of rain to fall across the area through Monday, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.
In Flagstaff, Arizona, nonstop rain flooded local roads and overwhelmed storm drains. Police reported searching for a man who slipped into fast-moving floodwaters and did not resurface. In the Pinetop-Lakeside area, residents reported sewage backing up into homes as manhole covers popped open due to the pressure of the flooding.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for nearly all of Arizona, parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and western New Mexico. In La Plata County, west of Pagosa Springs, all public roads were closed. Evacuations were also ordered in nearby Durango, where the Animas River was rising quickly. No injuries or deaths had been reported in Arizona by Sunday evening.
