Severe flooding in the Four Corners region triggers rooftop rescues and evacuation orders

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Severe flooding in the Four Corners region on Friday led to water rescues — some from rooftops — and impassable roads, with some residents being told to evacuate low-lying areas of Colorado and New Mexico and others advised to shelter in place until water levels go down.

It followed several busy days of flooding in the region that swamped dozens of homes in Utah. Earlier in the week, tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees onto houses and downed power lines in Arizona. At least one person was injured.

An unknown number of people were rescued overnight and continued to be rescued Friday by New Mexico Guard boats, helicopters and amphibious vehicles, San Juan County spokesman Devin Neeley said.

“We’re picking people off of roofs and pulling people out of houses that have 3 or 4 feet (1-1.5 meters) of water in them, and there’s more water coming,” Neeley said.

Skies were clearing but the rivers continued to rise, with forecast crests surpassed, he added.

“This is serious. We’re still sending deputies as I speak to get people out of their homes right now. In fact, our sheriff is damn near going to lose his home today,” Neeley said.

Some 600 households were told to evacuate in Farmington, where areas along the San Juan River were closed off, city spokesperson Gina Intoppa said.

“We are kind of all hands on deck,” Intoppa said.

Farmington is the biggest city in the Four Corners, the only place in the U.S. where four states — Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah — come together.

In southern Colorado, flooding was even worse than forecast and a full 3 feet (1 meter) higher than a 100-year flood on the San Juan River only a year ago.

Before midday, rescuers in a state helicopter were trying to reach two people who were stranded in a motor home after trying to escape floodwaters, Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux said.

“We have two adult people and we’ve got three dogs that are as well as they can be, being perched in the middle of a river in a vehicle that’s somewhat submerged,” Le Roux said.

Authorities were meanwhile assessing who else needed help, including many whose homes weren’t flooded but cut off by floodwaters.

“We have widespread catastrophic infrastructure damage across state infrastructure, county infrastructure, private infrastructure. The volume of water has been unprecedented,” Le Roux said.

Le Roux was not aware of any deaths or serious injuries as of midday Friday, he said, “the best news that we can hope for.”

In nearby Rio Grande County, trailers at a campground were surrounded by high water and trucks were partially submerged in other areas.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis had declared a disaster emergency in 11 counties in response to heavy rain and flooding in the southwest part of the state.

The city of Hurricane in far southwestern Utah was cleaning up after declaring a state of emergency Thursday. Reddish-brown floodwater lapped into and around 80 homes in a neighborhood and 50 recreational vehicles in an RV park.

Surreal scenes included a shipping container drifting slowly down a street.

The flooding was not unexpected, just the latest from two months of heavy rain that ended a summer of drought. While parts of the Southwest are rocky with little vegetation and are naturally prone to flash flooding, the recent rains have made flooding everywhere more likely, said Kate Abbott, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Still more rain was forecast through the weekend.

“At this point we’re saturated and can’t take too much more without flooding,” Abbott said. “This is the third or fourth round of this kind of moisture we’ve seen in as many weeks.”

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this story.