Rain clears but flood risk remains high after destructive storms swamp normally arid Southwest
Rain was clearing but the risk of flooding remained high on Monday after the latest round of powerful downpours sent a massive amount of water surging through storm-weary parts of the U.S. Southwest, forcing hundreds to evacuate as swift-water rescue teams kept busy.
Officials said cleanup and repair efforts could take weeks. One person died in the floodwaters and police suspect a second death was weather-related.
The National Weather Service said isolated cloudbursts were still possible across the Four Corners region — where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — as the phenomenon stoked by warming Pacific waters known as El Niño disrupts weather patterns.
Damage was widespread in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a town of about 2,000 nearly wiped out in 1911 when the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters). The river reached 16.81 feet (5.1 meters) late Sunday, flooding downtown streets, before receding Monday, the weather service said.
An entire home was lifted from its foundation and floated down the river before crashing into a pedestrian bridge. A section of a road bridge west of the town “buckled” under raging waters, said Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Vicki Shaffer.
Shaffer said first responders were searching for people who may be stranded, adding “a few” rescues took place Monday, including at least one by helicopter.
“That will continue, just like last week, until we’re sure that everybody who was trapped by the floodwaters has been rescued,” she said.
Shaffer said the county did not have an estimate of the number of residents under evacuation orders and that the Colorado Department of Transportation was assessing whether it was safe to reopen several closed bridges and roadways.
Pagosa Springs had just lifted an evacuation order from previous flooding last week, only to reimpose it Saturday.
More than 20 trillion gallons of rain have fallen on the Four Corners states and Nevada in the past two weeks, according to calculations by former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue.
The Colorado Secretary of State's office arranged alternative voting plans for evacuated or stranded residents of the town.
Evacuations were ordered along the San Juan River in New Mexico, which officials warned was still rising and could crest Tuesday through Wednesday. The village of Chama, New Mexico, was also evacuated and cut off by road closures.
Residents had to leave their homes along the Animas River in southwestern Colorado, where Durango police Chief Brice Current said authorities were checking Monday on those who rode out the flooding at home.
"There's still a lot of people stranded,” Current said.
Willow Bradner and her family have been staying in a hotel since their Durango home flooded this weekend.
“We went from ‘we’re going to be safe’ to ‘pack a go-bag’ in 45 minutes,” she recalled. Her basement is now filled with water, with the house surrounded by more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of mud.
On Monday, Greg Ewing was among some 200 community members who used shovels and skid steers to remove the mud in Bradner's neighborhood. “That’s the cool thing about Durango. It’s a really strong community. Everyone comes together,” Ewing said.
Record rainfall was reported across Arizona, including 7.3 inches (18.5 centimeters) over two days at Workman Creek, a wilderness area near Phoenix.
Flagstaff totaled 5.15 inches (13 centimeters) over two days, contributing to its wettest Nov. 1 ever recorded. The city typically has fewer than a handful of days per year of rain exceeding 1 inch (2.5 centimeters), said meteorologist Jennifer Tate with the NWS Weather Prediction Center.
“What really stood out to me was that this wasn’t localized. It was a very broad system that brought a lot of rain to a lot of places,” Tate said.
A man was seen falling into floodwaters rushing into a drainage tunnel in Flagstaff, where rain fell nearly nonstop Sunday. Police said the body of Williams Singavarapu, 73, of New York, was discovered Monday about 15 blocks from where he disappeared.
A second man was found dead Monday in a drainage area, Flagstaff police said, adding it appeared to be weather-related, pending an official determination on the cause of death.
In Sedona, floodwaters trapped several people in their homes, and heavy rain washed out part of a highway.
Swiftwater rescues also were being conducted in Tucson, where weather service meteorologist Aaron Hardin said “we are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days.”
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a statewide emergency declaration on Monday after issuing an emergency for Navajo and Coconino counties last week. The governors of New Mexico and Colorado asked President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to receive federal funding assistance.
Ryan Benally spent the weekend building dirt berms to divert floodwaters from his parents’ home on the Navajo Nation near Montezuma Creek, Utah. So far, the barriers have held, though parts of their small cattle ranch were under water.
Benally, a professor at Utah State University, has been coordinating deliveries of bottled water, waterproof boots, toiletries and other supplies to shelters. Families who stayed at home were increasingly difficult to reach, he said, because access routes for some remote residents washed out.
Benally said his parents, both in their 60s, have lived in the area all their lives and have never seen flooding this severe.
“These storms have been one after another after another,” Benally said. “It’s compounding in ways people out here just weren’t prepared for.”
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AP journalists Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Savannah Peters in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Gregory Bull in Durango, Colorado; and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.
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