Daijiworld Media Network - New Mexico
New Mexico, Oct 25: Hundreds of homes remained evacuated and without electricity on Saturday after days of heavy rain triggered severe flooding across parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, with officials warning that further surges remained possible.
More than five inches of rain fell in some areas, sending floodwaters from Colorado's mountains into the desert regions of the southwestern United States. Although the San Juan River and several other waterways began receding from record levels, additional storms prompted authorities to warn residents to remain alert.
“This is not over, and we need you to monitor alerts,” Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said at a news conference.
Flooding affected around 2,000 people in and around Farmington, a city of approximately 46,000 residents near Four Corners, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.
Since the rains intensified on Wednesday, at least a few hundred people have required rescue, although officials said the number was difficult to establish accurately because of the scale of the emergency. Flooding peaked on Thursday and Friday, leaving some people stranded on rooftops.
Rescue operations included 11 helicopter hoist missions conducted by the New Mexico National Guard. Each operation transported as many as eight people to safety, according to San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley.
Despite the scale of the evacuations, emergency shelters were not full, leading officials to believe that many displaced residents were staying with relatives and friends.
Authorities continued to restrict access to affected neighbourhoods even as water levels fell, citing dangers from fallen power lines, possible gas leaks and the threat of additional storms over the weekend.
“There’s a lot of anxiety, and there’s a lot of frustration,” San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari said, urging residents to understand that the restrictions were intended to protect them.
Officials in Colorado and New Mexico also warned people against flying drones to inspect their properties or watch the flooding, saying the devices could endanger rescue aircraft. Residents were asked to reserve emergency calls to 911 for genuine emergencies.
Further downstream, the San Juan River inundated parts of the vast Navajo Nation. A two-mile stretch of US Highway 64 west of Shiprock was closed after floodwaters covered the roadway.
In Colorado, the San Juan River surged through Pagosa Springs, a town known for its hot springs resorts, reaching levels not seen in more than a century. The floodwaters rose more than two feet above the level recorded during a major flood just over a year ago, which officials had classified as a 100-year event.
The Animas River also rushed through Durango, a tourist destination in southwestern Colorado, although its levels remained below records dating back more than a century.
Flooding spread as far east as the Conejos River in south-central Colorado. Governor Jared Polis added Conejos County to the list of areas eligible for disaster assistance.
Several roads remained closed, including portions of US Highway 160 northeast of Pagosa Springs. However, the winding Million Dollar Highway, officially designated US Highway 550, reopened between Durango and Ouray after crews addressed water damage.
The latest flooding follows nearly two months of intermittent heavy rainfall associated with tropical moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean. The region had experienced months of drought before the recent downpours, while other areas of the southwestern United States have also suffered deadly flooding in recent weeks.
Although the region's rocky desert landscape is naturally vulnerable to flash floods, the prolonged rainfall has saturated the soil, increasing the likelihood of further flooding.