Mandatory evacuation orders are in force along the Rio Grande in Colorado's San Luis Valley, covering parts of Monte Vista, Del Norte and South Fork, after the river's flood threat escalated from a warning into evacuations on Sunday evening. Del Norte and Monte Vista schools are closed on Monday, November 2, and shelters are open for residents who have had to leave their homes.

This is an escalation of the flooding Awaaz Punjab already reported in a flood warning for South Fork and Highway 160. The warning told drivers and residents that the Rio Grande was rising; the new orders tell people in the named areas to leave now, not to wait for conditions to worsen, and not to return until officials say it is safe.

Where the evacuation orders apply

In Monte Vista, the mandatory order runs along the Rio Grande from the intersection of Highway 160 and Rio Grande County Road 5N East, through the town of Monte Vista, to Rio Grande County Road 6E, according to the evacuation notices relayed by local radio stations 96.5 The Fox and KYDN on Sunday night.

In Del Norte, the order issued through South Fork Fire Rescue covers the Rio Grande from County Road 18 to Del Norte, the town of Del Norte from the river south to 4th Street, and the stretch from the eastern town limit to the intersection of Highway 160 and Rio Grande County Road 5N.

In South Fork, the order covers the South Fork of the Rio Grande from Wolf Creek Ranches on Highway 160 to the confluence with the main river, including the Beaver Creek Estates subdivision, and the Rio Grande from River Greens at the South Fork confluence to County Road 18.

Shelters and the school closure

The Monte Vista shelter is the Ski Hi Complex at 2335 Sherman Avenue, Monte Vista, Colorado 81144, which is also the site of the McMullen Building shelter for small and large animals. The Del Norte shelter is the Rio Grande Hospital Wellness Center at 310 County Road 14, Del Norte, Colorado 81132, and the South Fork shelter is the South Fork Community Building.

Del Norte and Monte Vista schools announced that school will be cancelled on Monday, November 2, because of the flooding, saying the northern part of their school district had been put into evacuation status a little after 5 p.m. on Sunday. The schools said they hoped to be back in session on Tuesday but that it would depend on what the river did, and that other schools would run on delayed starts.

What the weather service is warning

The National Weather Service office in Pueblo said in its area forecast discussion on Sunday that significant and dangerous flooding was expected across the San Juan Mountains and the adjacent San Luis Valley, and that flooding was possible on the mainstem Rio Grande at Del Norte and Monte Vista and at Alamosa, and along the Conejos River east of Mogote, through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Pueblo office kept a flood watch in effect for all of the San Luis Valley from late Sunday night into Tuesday morning. It said rainfall in the valley itself was expected to be between half an inch and one and a half inches, but that mountain runoff was the main danger, and it warned that road washouts and mudslides or rockslides were possible. Its standing advice, repeated in every warning, is: turn around, do not drive through flood water.

Why this flood is different from a routine warning

This is the second major flood wave in about ten days across the Four Corners region. A statewide disaster emergency had already been declared across 12 southwestern Colorado counties after severe flooding in late October, and the new storm dropped heavy rain onto ground that was already saturated, so rivers rose fast and stayed high.

The San Luis Valley is a farming valley, and its main road, U.S. Highway 160, runs straight through Monte Vista, Del Norte and South Fork. For truckers and other drivers crossing southern Colorado, the practical point is to check Colorado's COtrip road conditions before setting out and to treat any flooded road or barricade as closed, even if the water looks shallow — most flood deaths in the United States happen in vehicles, the weather service warns.

What happens next

Officials have said residents must not return to evacuated areas until they announce that the order has been lifted, and that emergency updates will follow as conditions change. For emergencies, the notices say to call 911. The next decisions to watch are whether the Rio Grande at Del Norte and Monte Vista crests as forecast through Tuesday, whether the school districts can reopen on Tuesday as they hope, and whether the flood watch for the valley is extended past Tuesday morning.

Sources: evacuation notices relayed by 96.5 The Fox and KYDN 95.3 (South Fork Fire Rescue and school-district messages); National Weather Service Pueblo area forecast discussion, November 1; IQAir Four Corners flooding alert, November 2; Orbis Weather, November 1.