Flooding in southwestern Colorado declared disaster emergency by Polis

Floodwaters threatened hundreds of homes in southwestern Colorado over the weekend as heavy rains caused rivers and creeks in multiple counties to overflow.

With more rain on the horizon Sunday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency for flooding in the southwest part of the state, according to a statement from his office.

The declaration activated the state’s emergency operations plan and authorized the Colorado Department of Public Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to “take whatever actions may be required for response efforts, including up to the initial $1 million in estimated costs.”

More than 5 inches of “impressive rainfall” from Tropical Storm Priscilla doused the southern state between Friday and Sunday — causing flooding, washed out roads, mudslides and rockslides across the region — according to the National Weather Service’s Grand Junction office.

Nobody died during the weekend floods, Upper Pine River Fire Protection District officials said.

Nearly 400 homes were evacuated Saturday in La Plata County after floodwaters breached a levee, and more than 100 were damaged, according to county officials. Some were estimated to have as much as 2 feet of water inside. County officials were working to assess the total damage on Sunday.

La Plata County sheriff’s deputies and Upper Pine River firefighters rescued at least 11 people from the floodwaters, county officials said.

Most of those rescues happened on the east side of Vallecito Creek, where a levee break caused rapid flooding. One of the people rescued had refused to evacuate when emergency notifications first went out and later needed assistance after floodwaters covered their driveway, county officials said.

Another 1 to 4 inches of rain is expected to fall in La Plata County by Tuesday afternoon, according to La Plata County officials.

Nearby, the Archuleta County Board of Commissioners declared a local disaster emergency after widespread flooding overtook Pagosa Springs.

“The County of Archuleta experienced severe flooding resulting from heavy precipitation, causing widespread damage to roads, bridges, culverts, and other public infrastructure, and posing a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents,” the commissioners wrote in the declaration.

Rain caused the San Juan River to surge beyond its banks, sending feet of water across downtown Pagosa Springs, closing U.S. 60 and prompting mandatory evacuations, according to Archuleta County officials.

The river reached a height of nearly 13 feet during the peak of the weekend storm, the third-highest level since October 1911, according to the sheriff’s office.

A weather service station at the Stevens Airfield in Pagosa Springs measured roughly 3.1 inches of rain between midnight Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, meteorologists said. Another 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain is expected to fall by Tuesday.

Deep standing water and debris remained Sunday in various areas across Pagosa Springs, according to the police department. All parks and sections of downtown along the San Juan River were closed to the public.

Archuleta County officials said the flooding “exceeded the county’s capacity to respond with available resources.” Declaring a local emergency allowed county officials to request mutual aid and state and federal assistance.

All mandatory evacuation orders in Archuleta and La Plata counties were lifted Sunday morning, but most of the areas remained on pre-evacuation status.

Another surge of heavy rainfall is expected to arrive in western Colorado early Monday morning, courtesy of Tropical Storm Raymond, weather service forecasters said in a hazardous weather outlook.