Still more rain, evacuations remain in place from Four Corners region flooding

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Hundreds of homes remained evacuated and without electricity Saturday after days of heavy rain — over 5 inches in places — surged water from the Colorado mountains into the New Mexico and Arizona desert. Even as the San Juan River and other streams receded from record highs, more storms rumbled through, causing local officials to warn of still more surges. “This is not over, and we need you to monitor alerts,” police Chief Steve Hebbe of Farmington, New Mexico, said in a news conference.

The flooding affected some 2,000 people in and around the city of 46,000 not far from Four Corners, the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. At least a couple hundred people needed rescue — too many for busy officials to keep accurate count — since rains picked up Wednesday and flooding culminated Thursday and Friday. Some were stranded on rooftops. Rescues included 11 hoist operations involving New Mexico National Guard helicopters, each of which hauled as many as eight people to safety, San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley said.

But shelters were not full, leading officials to suspect that most evacuees were staying with friends and family. Even with water levels having lowered, evacuations remained in effect until officials deem it safe to return. Potential hazards included downed power lines, leaking gas lines and the likelihood of yet more storms through the weekend. “There’s a lot of anxiety, and there’s a lot of frustration,” San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari said.

“But please understand we are blocking those areas for your safety.” Officials in Colorado and New Mexico urged people not to fly drones to check on their property or to sightsee, warning that such activity can endanger rescue aircraft. They also asked people not to use 911 except for true emergencies. Downstream from Farmington, the San Juan River flooded parts of the vast Navajo Nation. A 2-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 64 west of Shiprock was closed with water on the roadway.

Upstream in Colorado, the milkshake-brown San Juan River raged through the hot springs resort town of Pagosa Springs at a level unseen in over a century. The flood was well over 2 feet higher than one just over a year ago that officials considered a 100-year flood. The Animas River raged in a muddy torrent through Durango, a southwest Colorado tourist city, though below records dating back over a century. Flooding extended as far east as the Conejos River in south-central Colorado, and Gov. Jared Polis added Conejos County to a list of places eligible for disaster help.

Some routes including U.S. 160 northeast of Pagosa Springs remained closed. But the famous, winding Million Dollar Highway — formally U.S. 550 — reopened between Durango and Ouray after crews addressed an area of water damage. The flooding is just the latest from two months of on-and-off heavy rain caused by tropical moisture coming ashore from the Pacific. After months of drought, other recent deadly flooding struck the Grand Canyon and areas of New Mexico.

The region’s rocky deserts are naturally prone to flash floods, but the rain has saturated soils, making flooding even likelier.