Severe flooding in the Four Corners region on Friday, October 23, led to water rescues — some from rooftops — and impassable roads, with residents in low-lying areas of New Mexico and Colorado told to evacuate and others advised to shelter in place until water levels go down, the Associated Press reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.
Source: Associated Press
In Farmington, the biggest city in the Four Corners — the only place in the United States where four states, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, come together — some 600 households were told to evacuate as areas along the San Juan River were closed off, city spokesperson Gina Intoppa told the AP. “We are kind of all hands on deck,” Intoppa said.
Source: Associated Press
An unknown number of people were rescued overnight and continued to be rescued on Friday by New Mexico Guard boats, helicopters and amphibious vehicles, San Juan County spokesman Devin Neeley told the AP. “We're picking people off of roofs and pulling people out of houses that have 3 or 4 feet (about 1 to 1.5 metres) of water in them, and there's more water coming,” Neeley said. Skies were clearing but rivers continued to rise, with forecast crests surpassed, he added.
Source: Associated Press
The San Juan River at Farmington rose to 13.2 feet at 10 a.m. Mountain time on Friday — 4.7 feet above its 8.5-foot flood stage — after rising 1.7 feet in a single hour on Friday morning, according to National Weather Service data reported by The American Quorum and HeyDay News. A San Juan County emergency alert said the river's banks had breached and told people in the affected area around Farmington to “EVACUATE NOW”; McGee Park was opened for people, pets and recreational vehicles, HeyDay reported from the county alert. The Weather Service projected the river could crest near 14 feet on Friday afternoon, and flood warnings for the San Juan and Animas rivers remained in effect into Saturday.
Source: The American Quorum / National Weather Service data
The flooding followed several days of severe weather across the region. Flash flooding in Hurricane, Utah, on Thursday damaged at least 130 homes and RVs, city officials said, and four people were rescued by helicopter from the roof of a pickup truck surrounded by floodwaters near Rimrock, Arizona, on Thursday, Fox Weather reported. In southwest Colorado, heavy rain prompted mandatory evacuations along four rivers including the San Juan through Pagosa Springs, schools in the Archuleta district were closed on Friday, and the Colorado Department of Transportation closed Red Mountain Pass and Wolf Creek Pass and reported a major road washout on Highway 550 near Silverton, Colorado Public Radio reported via KSUT.
Source: KSUT / Colorado Public Radio
In the Friday AP reporting, officials had not reported any deaths from the flooding; Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux, in neighbouring Colorado, said before midday that he knew of no deaths or serious injuries, while describing widespread damage that was still being assessed. The situation was still developing on Friday afternoon, and residents were urged to follow city, county and National Weather Service alerts rather than drive through flooded roads.