Raging floods trigger mandatory evacuations in Arizona and Colorado as powerful storms sweep across states with residents warned of potentially ‘catastrophic event’

Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations in a wide swath of the Southwest on Sunday as weary residents in the normally arid region dealt with another massive drenching.

Residents of Pagosa Springs, a southwestern Colorado town of more than 2,000 in the Rockies located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs, were bracing for its main river to rise to historic levels.

Town officials warned in a Facebook post of potentially ‘catastrophic flooding’ as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 20 feet late on Sunday night.

‘To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet,’ the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office said in a separate Facebook post. ‘This is a potentially catastrophic flood event.’

Communities across Arizona issued mandatory evacuations.

The flooding took a potentially deadly turn in Flagstaff on Sunday evening as emergency crews launched a desperate search for a man who vanished beneath  fast-moving floodwaters.

Police and firefighters were called to the area of South Malpais Lane and West Clay Avenue just before 6pm after reports that a man had lost his footing near rushing water, fallen in and failed to resurface.

The Flagstaff Police Department and Flagstaff Fire Department deployed all available resources to search for the missing man, urging the public to stay away from the area while rescue operations continued.

In the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters rose and multiple people were trapped in their homes.

Nearby Yavapai County and the community of Camp Verde issued similar evacuation orders for residents living near swollen rivers and creeks.

More than 100 miles southeast of Sedona, officials in Gila County ordered the total evacuation of Gisela, a small community of several hundred residents along Tonto Creek. 

The wet conditions even produced flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles south of Sedona.

‘We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,’ said Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.

Emergency crews carried out at least 16 river rescues across Pima County by 3pm Sunday as rising floodwaters overwhelmed roads and left motorists stranded.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said so many roads had been closed that authorities were unable to provide a complete list, warning drivers not to attempt to cross flooded streets reminding the community of the phrase, ‘Turn Around, Don’t Drown!’

The latest round of soaking rains started on Saturday evening and was expected to saturate the area through Monday. 

The weather service estimates as much as 4 inches of rain could fall across the region, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.

The weather service issued flood warnings and watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. 

That includes the sparsely populated Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

The weather service office for Salt Lake City said previous storms that soaked the area could contribute to excessive rain runoff during the latest downpours, especially in Washington County, Utah, and Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks.

‘Flood prone areas will likely become inundated at times, and backcountry roads will likely become impassable from this excessive runoff,’ a weather service statement said.

Officials in Pagosa Springs said anyone in low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra rivers should head to a designated shelter at a local church.

They advised residents not to wait to leave their homes as emergency crews may be extremely limited during the worst of the storm. 

The highway entering town also was closed to inbound traffic, and residents were advised to avoid contact with the San Juan River after sewage was discharged into it.

Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said downtown had been evacuated and that there was street flooding. 

German said she was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out and trucks carrying everything from food to fuel not having a way in.

Town officials had just lifted an evacuation order from flooding last week only to reimpose it Saturday night with the San Juan forecast to crest on Sunday night at 21.9 feet, according to the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.

‘I’m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,’ German said. ‘This town, we’re a very, very, tight community. We all help each other out.’

Officials in La Plata County, which is west of Pagosa Springs, said all public roads were closed due to the flooding.

In Sedona, longtime resident Michelle Grimm worried about her community after viewing the rushing waters of Oak Creek rising perilously close to the underside of a pedestrian bridge near the center of town.

‘I went out at eight this morning and I saw the bridge and I was like, `Oh, we’re in trouble,´’ she said as she sheltered in place in her home Sunday afternoon.

‘I’ve never seen them rescuing people with helicopters out of neighborhoods. I’ve never seen neighborhoods completely submerged in water,’ Grimm said. ‘We’re just praying that the creek doesn’t rise anymore.’

A video shared by the Sedona fire department showed powerful flood waters inundating vehicles and rushing past homes and other structures. 

Other videos and photos shared on social media showed people standing on a pedestrian bridge taking photos and videos as churning, brown waters rushed underneath.

By Sunday afternoon, the drenching rains had largely subsided in the Sedona area.

The relentless rain also ruined Halloween weekend plans across Arizona, forcing the cancellation of several major events that had been planned for months.

The annual Dia de los Muertos festival at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix was postponed until November 8, while the final scheduled day of the Arizona State Fair and Bug Fest at Arizona Boardwalk were also canceled.

Jerome Doris, parish manager at St. Mary’s Basilica, said organizers had spent days preparing for the festival, which would ordinarily have brought vendors and around 10 food trucks into the surrounding streets.

‘Outside today it is very quiet, but if it was not raining it would be a type of activity—vendors in the plaza there, the street would have 10 food trucks,’ Doris said.

A smaller Dia de los Muertos altar will remain inside the church throughout the week, allowing worshippers to remember loved ones despite the cancellation.

Officials were watching Oak Creek as water levels were expected to peak by evening, said David McAtee, spokesperson for Yavapai County, which covers part of Sedona along with other impacted communities.

No injuries or deaths had so far been reported, he said. At least 100 homes were located in the evacuation zone and nearly 20 of the homes had residents who needed emergency assistance to relocate.

Heavy rains had forced the closure of several highways across Arizona on Sunday, the state Department of Transportation reported. 

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said state air rescue crews were assisting with rooftop evacuations and state transportation crews were helping clear debris.

The rain was expected to taper off across Arizona as wet weather moved eastward into other parts of the country, where it could also bring significant precipitation, said Brian Hurley, a senior meteorologist with the weather service in Maryland.

‘It’s a pretty vigorous system,’ he said. ‘It’s got a lot of moisture to work with.’

Some of Arizona’s hardest-hit areas could receive between three and five inches of rain, particularly around the Mogollon Rim north and east of Phoenix, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

Forecasters warned that already saturated ground could send floodwaters rushing through canyons, normally dry washes and areas previously scarred by wildfires, where the landscape is especially vulnerable to sudden runoff.

Southern Utah and western New Mexico could also see up to three inches before the storm system moves east toward the Great Plains on Monday.

The emergency spread to another part of Colorado on Sunday as authorities ordered evacuations in parts of Conejos County over fears of rapidly rising floodwaters.

Colorado’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management warned residents they might be unable to return home for several days, urging them to leave immediately and seek higher ground.