Pagosa Springs Evacuates as San Juan River Nears Record Crest

PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. — The order went out Sunday morning and it was not subtle. People living on low ground along four Archuleta County rivers had to leave, and the San Juan River at Pagosa Springs kept rising, heading for a crest forecast to break a record from 1911.

The gauge at Pagosa Springs read 7.8 feet at 9 a.m. Sunday, with flood stage at 10.5 feet. That was not expected to last: forecasters put the evening crest at 22 feet. The highest mark on record here is 17.8 feet, set on Oct. 5, 1911. The weather service called the situation particularly dangerous and kept a flood warning in place until Monday evening.

Forecasts climbed all weekend. Archuleta County’s update on Saturday evening put the crest at 16.9 feet around midnight Sunday. By Sunday evening, the town of Pagosa Springs was telling residents the river could reach 19.71 feet, or higher, around 11 p.m. At 20 feet, the weather service said, access roads near the river flood and some homes become inaccessible.

“Leave now,” the county told residents

The order from the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office covered low-lying ground along four rivers: the San Juan, the Rio Blanco, the Navajo and the Piedra. Anyone outside those zones was told to shelter in place. The county’s Sunday morning update left no room for delay: people in the zones had to leave at once.

Then the timeline moved up. In a later post, the sheriff’s office said the river was coming up faster than anyone expected and could crest higher than forecast, maybe as early as 6 p.m. The town shut its gates at 2 p.m. — traffic could leave, nothing could come in, and nobody who left could return until officials gave the all-clear. Two shelters took people in: the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association Clubhouse and Open Door Church.

One more warning from the sheriff’s office: sewage was going into the San Juan River near the First Street bridge, and residents were told to keep out of the water. KSUT reported the county was bringing in added search-and-rescue help, including ground and air support and the Colorado National Guard. Colorado Public Radio reported the state had asked South Metro Fire Rescue to send a swift water rescue team to Pagosa Springs. Vicki Shaffer of the sheriff’s office said help may not be immediately available when the storm is at its worst.

Evacuation orders across the region

Colorado Public Radio reported evacuation orders in several other counties. In Conejos County, orders covered the Conejos River canyon from Platoro down to Fox Creek and Mogote, along with Ortiz, San Antonio and Guadalupe, while the rest of the county was in pre-evacuation status. La Plata County closed all county roads, with evacuation orders for the Junction Creek, Meadowbrook and Pine Winds mobile home parks and homes north of Lakin Street in Ignacio. Orders were also in place along the Rio Grande in Rio Grande and Mineral counties, including Del Norte, South Fork and Monte Vista.

The Colorado Department of Transportation closed U.S. 160 from Wolf Creek Pass through South Fork and in downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado 17 from Alamosa to the New Mexico line and Colorado 151 from Chimney Rock to Arboles. For the Four Corners, the flood watch began at 5 a.m. Sunday and runs to at least 11 a.m. Monday. Rain totals of 1 to 3 inches are possible, and the high country of the San Juan Mountains, above 10,000 feet, could pick up 12 to 18 inches of snow.

The region went through the same thing about a week ago. Last week’s flooding destroyed roads and buildings and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents across the Southwest, and the San Juan River peaked at 15 feet at Pagosa Springs, town manager David Harris said. The ground was still saturated when the new rain arrived, and a warmer storm meant snowmelt would add to the runoff, state public information officer Niki Carpenter told Colorado Public Radio.

Arizona took its own hit. In Sedona, officials ordered people along Oak Creek to get out right away — the water was rising fast, and several residents were already trapped in their homes, The Associated Press reported. Camp Verde put out an evacuation order, too, for neighborhoods near the Verde River, West Clear Creek and Wet Beaver Creek. “We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,” said Aaron Hardin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tucson, speaking to the AP about the deluge.

The weather service said significant and historic flooding was already occurring across southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah on Sunday afternoon, with many local roads flooded and impassable and some washed out or collapsed. Rain was expected to continue through Monday.