Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed an executive order on Friday, November 6, declaring a 30-day state of emergency in San Juan and Washington counties, after a ten-day run of severe thunderstorms and flash flooding damaged homes, businesses, roads, bridges and critical infrastructure across southern Utah. The Governor's Office lists the order among his November 6 executive orders as the declaration of a state of emergency due to flooding.

Source: Gephardt Daily, Salt Lake City (Nov. 6, 2026)

The declaration allows the state to mobilize resources to support local response and recovery efforts and to request federal and interstate assistance as needed. It follows weeks of flooding that Awaaz Punjab has been reporting from the region — the San Juan River's repeated crests at Bluff, flooding and evacuations around Hurricane in Washington County, and flood closures on the US-191 corridor between Moab and Monticello. The governor's order is the state's formal escalation of that emergency.

Source: Office of Governor Spencer J. Cox — Executive Orders, 2026

“Repeated flooding has damaged homes, disrupted access to drinking water and cut off important travel routes,” Gov. Cox said. “This declaration will help us support local efforts and get resources to affected Utahns. I'm grateful to the emergency responders and crews who are working to keep people safe.”

Ten days of water, Oct. 22 to Nov. 1

The damaging floods occurred between October 22 and November 1, with some areas flooding multiple times, according to the governor's announcement. Local communities in the two counties declared states of emergency first and requested additional resources and support from state departments and agencies — the requests that Friday's executive order now answers at state level.

A bridge pulled apart in San Juan County

In San Juan County, floodwaters caused significant damage along U.S. Route 163 and state routes 162 and 262. Damage to the Comb Wash Bridge on U.S. Route 163 required an immediate closure after erosion left a gap between the roadway and the bridge itself. Near Montezuma Creek and Bluff, flooding also damaged road shoulders and required localized closures and detours.

US-163 is the highway that carries travellers and freight through Mexican Hat toward Monument Valley and the Arizona state line — one of the Four Corners region's few paved lifelines. For truckers and drivers crossing southeastern Utah, a bridge closure on that route does not mean a short detour around the block; it can mean hours of rerouting on the region's sparse road network, and for the small communities along it, it means supplies, school runs and medical trips all take the long way.

Water lines and fibre lines hit too

The storms damaged water lines, affecting access to drinking water in some areas, and compromised telecommunications and fibre infrastructure, the governor's announcement said. The full extent of the damage to roads, bridges, utilities and other public infrastructure cannot be determined until floodwaters fully recede — which is why the state's damage picture remains provisional even ten days after the last flooding.

What happens next

State crews and county teams will keep assessing damage as waters recede, and the declaration window — 30 days from November 6 — sets the clock for the first phase of state-supported recovery and for any request for federal assistance. Drivers in San Juan County should expect the Comb Wash Bridge closure on US-163 and localized detours near Bluff and Montezuma Creek to remain in place until engineers clear them. Awaaz Punjab will update this story as repair timelines and any federal response are announced.

Earlier in this flood emergency, the San Juan River crested again at Bluff as southern Utah took repeated rounds of flooding. Read the earlier Bluff flooding report