More heavy rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations in a wide swath of the Southwest on Sunday, including a Colorado mountain town bracing for a river to reach historic levels, as weary residents in the normally arid region deal with another round of overflowing rivers and creeks.
In southwestern Colorado, officials in Pagosa Springs, a town in the Rockies located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs, warned in a Facebook post of potentially "catastrophic flooding" as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 19 feet (5.8 meters) around 11:00 p.m. Sunday.
"To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters)," the Archuleta County Sheriff's Office said in a separate Facebook post. "This is a potentially catastrophic flood event. Extensive damage is expected."
Officials in the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, ordered residents in areas near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters were rising rapidly and multiple people were trapped in their homes. Officials in nearby Camp Verde also issued an evacuation order for residents living near the Verde River, West Clear Creek, and Wet Beaver Creek.
Arizona expects months' worth of rain in a couple of days, meteorologist says
“We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,” Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson, said of conditions that have resulted in flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Sedona.
The latest round of soaking rains started Saturday evening and was expected to bring flash flooding to already saturated areas through Monday. The weather service estimates as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the region, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.
The weather service issued flood watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. That includes the sparsely populated Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.
Highway into Colorado tourist town is closing
Pagosa Springs officials said anyone in low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra Rivers should head to a designated shelter at a local church.
They said residents should leave immediately, and not wait as emergency crews may be extremely limited during the worst of the storm. The highway entering the hot springs town also would be shut down to inbound traffic Sunday afternoon, town officials added.
Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said downtown had been evacuated and that there was street flooding. German said she was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out.
“We’re all saying Pagosa is closed because they’re shutting down the highway on both sides of us,” said German, who closed her shop earlier Sunday and whose parents had to evacuate their homes to a brother’s house.
“I’m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,” she said. “This town, we’re a very, very, tight community. We all help each other out.”
Sedona officials rescue residents trapped in homes
In Sedona, longtime resident Michelle Grimm worried about her community after viewing the rushing waters of Oak Creek rising perilously close to the underside of a pedestrian bridge near the center of town.
“I went out at eight this morning and I saw the bridge and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re in trouble,’” she said as she sheltered in place in her home Sunday afternoon.
“I’ve never seen them rescuing people with helicopters out of neighborhoods. I’ve never seen neighborhoods completely submerged in water,” Grimm said. “We’re just praying that the creek doesn’t rise anymore.”
Sedona officials on Sunday ordered residents living in affected areas to head to Sedona Red Rock High School, but they urged people not to attempt to drive across roads with rushing waters and to stay away from creek beds and washes.
Heavy rains forced the closure of several highways across Arizona, the state Department of Transportation reported.
Sedona Fire District Chief Ed Mezulis said in a short clip posted on Facebook that emergency crews from surrounding communities were coming in to assist as local fire and police officials were already responding to multiple reports of residents trapped in their homes due to the rising flood waters.
“Please stay at high ground, watch your alerts and be careful,” he advised.
A video shared by the fire department showed powerful flood waters inundating vehicles and rushing past homes and other structures. Other videos and photos shared on social media showed people standing on a pedestrian bridge taking photos and videos as churning, brown waters rushed underneath.
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Marcelo reported from New York and Casey from Boston.