The Archuleta County Sheriff's Office ordered the immediate evacuation of low-lying areas along the San Juan River and its tributaries as of 2:24 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, the sheriff's office said in an order carried by the Pagosa Daily Post. Evacuees can obtain shelter information at the County Department of Human Services offices at 550 Hot Springs Blvd, and the sheriff's office warned that emergency services might be unable to reach those who choose not to evacuate.
Source: Archuleta County Sheriff's Office via Pagosa Daily Post
The evacuation came as yet more severe weather struck the Four Corners region on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. In southern Colorado, rising waters prompted mandatory evacuations along four rivers including the San Juan River through Pagosa Springs, the resort town known for its riverside hot springs, which suffered flooding from a similar weather pattern a year ago. Local officials, including Town Manager David Harris, were watching floodwaters expected to crest a foot (30 centimetres) higher than during last year's flood, AP said.
Source: Associated Press via Los Angeles Post
A river flood warning is in effect for the San Juan River at Pagosa Springs, with the river expected to reach major flood stage Thursday evening into Friday morning, and a flood watch runs through Friday morning, according to local weather reporting citing the National Weather Service.
Harris told AP that daredevils had been seen taking advantage of the floodwaters to go whitewater rafting, raising worries they would need rescue by emergency crews already stretched thin. “There's a lot of debris,” Harris said. “The last thing we want to do is have to perform an extraction.”
Source: Associated Press via Los Angeles Post
The flooding was the latest from two months of heavy rain that ended a summer of drought, AP reported. While parts of the Southwest are rocky with little vegetation and naturally prone to flash flooding, the recent rains have made flooding everywhere more likely, Kate Abbott, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Junction, Colorado, told AP. The same storm system also flooded communities in Utah and followed a day of damaging storms in Arizona, AP reported.
Source: Associated Press via Los Angeles Post
What is solid
- The Archuleta County Sheriff's Office evacuation order — its 2:24 p.m. Thursday timing, the San Juan River and tributary areas covered, and the shelter-information point at 550 Hot Springs Blvd — is documented in the order carried by the Pagosa Daily Post.
- AP independently reports mandatory evacuations along four rivers in southern Colorado including the San Juan through Pagosa Springs, and the expected crest about a foot above last year's flood.
What is only claimed
- How much damage this round of flooding causes, and when evacuees can return, is not yet known — officials had not announced a return timeline as of Thursday evening.