Flood-weary US Southwest eyes forecast for more rain ahead
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Yet more flooding made parts of the normally arid Four Corners region look more like an ocean than a desert Monday as locals kept a wary eye on a forecast for still more rain ahead.
Damage in New Mexico alone after more than four days of flooding — only the latest in a deadly autumn of soaking rains in the U.S. Southwest — could total $300 million, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
The latest town to evacuate was tiny Bluff in southeastern Utah after San Juan River flooding swamped parts of cities and towns upstream in Colorado and New Mexico.
With parts of his town of 250 underwater, Mayor Josh Ewing was worried by a forecast for yet more heavy rain this weekend. After a few days of sunny, dry weather, more rounds of rain are predicted Friday night and again on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s the second flood that really gets you, you know, because everything is completely saturated. And so we’re trying to recover fast enough to be on alert for what might happen," Ewing said.
Upstream from Bluff, in Farmington, New Mexico, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and elsewhere along the San Juan and Animas rivers, hundreds of homes remained evacuated or cut off by flooded roads. Many homes were still without power as officials assessed when it would be safe for residents to return and have their utilities turned back on.
President Donald Trump on Monday announced federal disaster assistance would be available to New Mexico with 25% to be matched by agencies in the state. Earlier in the day, Lujan Grisham expressed concern about the matching requirement but said she would “frontload” state resources for flood recovery.
She estimated that the costs of debris removal, road and bridge repair and other “longhaul” recovery could amount to as much as $300 million.
“I don’t care if it’s a billion dollars. The goal here is to identify every state, every federal, every local resource and get it where it belongs,” Lujan Grisham said.
New Mexico had the only reported death so far in the latest flooding. A passenger in a vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross a flooded arroyo Saturday in Santa Fe.
Damage spread onto the vast Navajo Nation spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Lupita Villa, her husband and three young children evacuated their rental home along the San Juan River in Farmington on Thursday. When they returned on Saturday, they needed muck boots and waders to reach the front door. Once inside, they found their laminate floors warped under several inches of muddy floodwater and much of their furniture destroyed.
The family is staying with relatives on higher ground while they plan next steps. Villa said her children are struggling to understand that their former home is now unlivable.
“They just keep asking, ‘When can we go back?’” Villa said.
The crisis continued in southern Colorado’s Archuleta County. After more rain brought another surge in San Juan River flooding through the hot springs resort town of Pagosa Springs last weekend, the river was back below flood stage Monday for the first time in more than three days.
No further rescues were reported after air operations that included the rescue of two people, three dogs and two cats from a recreational vehicle washed downstream in floodwaters Friday.
But all evacuated areas remained closed. Responders were landing in helicopters to check on people still unable to leave their homes due to the floodwaters and road damage.
“We do have a number of people cut off still but we’re accessing those with the National Guard and our search and rescue crews,” Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux said.
Officials throughout the region cautioned people to avoid entering floodwaters after wastewater treatment plants got flooded. If you are exposed, they said, take a shower or bath as soon as possible.
In Montezuma Creek, 14 miles (22 kilometers) downstream from Bluff, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority reported its wastewater treatment lagoons were “completely breached,” potentially contaminating the San Juan River with bacteria and pathogens.
The river crested Monday lower than expected in Bluff. The water stopped mostly short of a highway that runs through town, said Ewing, the mayor and a local firefighter who took part in flood rescues.
It was cold comfort, though, after floodwaters hit seven more homes and four businesses overnight to bring the local flood toll to 17 homes and five businesses since a surge on Friday.
Unlike flooding that followed a levee break Friday, Ewing said, the latest surge happened after a day of warnings that higher water was on the way.
“It’s kind a weird thing when you’ve lived in red rock country to feel like you live by the sea now. Our floodplain is just filled,” Ewing said.
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Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.
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