Damaging floodwaters across the U.S. Southwest have displaced thousands of residents and driven New Mexico infrastructure recovery estimates as high as $300 million following weeks of torrential rains. New flood watches are now in effect for nearly all of Arizona, southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, western New Mexico, and part of southern Nevada as a moisture-laden Pineapple Express storm system arrives over Halloween weekend.
Communities from the Four Corners region down to the Phoenix metro area are confronting renewed flood threats after a deadly autumn of soaking rains. State authorities and emergency management teams have spent the week mobilizing resources as rivers swelled to historic proportions. In San Juan County, New Mexico, river gauges recorded the San Juan River growing 13 times larger in just 36 hours late last week, climbing from about 3.5 feet to 14 feet by Friday.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Puts Recovery Costs at Up to $300 Million
The financial toll of the continuous storm cycles is mounting rapidly. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham visited San Juan County to assess the devastation, where damage in New Mexico alone could total $300 million.
While local officials initially hoped repair bills would stay lower, state projections indicate long-haul recovery will require massive investment. I hope we’re only spending 30 to 40 million
, Lujan Grisham said, responding to recovery cost estimates from San Juan County manager Mike Stark. We think this could be closer to between 200 and 300 million
.
To combat the immediate crisis, Lujan Grisham signed executive orders making $8.25 million more in state funding available for flood response. As search and rescue teams raced to pull stranded residents from danger zones, at least two deaths were reported in New Mexico.
Intense rainstorms linked to a very active El Niño-driven Pacific hurricane season left thousands of people in the Four Corners states displaced or facing massive cleanups.
Swift Water Rescues Span Multiple States as Rivers Overwhelm Towns
Emergency crews deployed high-clearance vehicles from the National Guard as well as amphibious vehicles because the water levels rose so high. Thomas Donaldson, co-owner of Redemption Restoration and Cleaning in Farmington, described visiting San Juan County and seeing scenes that reminded him of movies depicting a zombie apocalypse.
Fire crews, police officers, National Guard troops, and out-of-state swift water teams rescued between 200 and 300 county residents. In Archuleta County, southern Colorado, the crisis continued as another surge of San Juan River flooding passed through the hot springs resort town of Pagosa Springs. In Montezuma Creek, located 14 miles downstream from Bluff, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority reported that its wastewater treatment lagoons were completely breached, threatening to contaminate the San Juan River with bacteria and pathogens.
In Utah, the tiny southeastern town of Bluff evacuated after San Juan River flooding swamped upstream cities. Mayor Josh Ewing noted that his town of 250 residents found parts underwater and watched the floodplain fill completely. A fire captain in Scottsdale explained that crews were rescuing a person in one vehicle when another vehicle carrying two people drove into the same waters and required rescue. Scottsdale fire Captain Dave Folio noted in a video that just 2 inches of water can sweep a vehicle off its wheels, and these vehicles were caught in 3 to 4 feet of water. In Bullhead City, heavy rains left water, rocks, and debris on streets and forced the closure of city parks.
National Weather Service Issues New Flood Watches for the Weekend
Relief from the saturated ground remains distant. Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, noted that it is not going to take much rainfall to be impactful at all in some locations because of how saturated the ground is.
A fresh atmospheric river originating near Hawaii — commonly nicknamed the Pineapple Express — is funneling heavy moisture directly into the Desert Southwest and Southern California. According to the National Weather Service, atmospheric moisture levels over parts of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah are reaching two to three times the seasonal average for the end of October.
High-elevation areas in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains are simultaneously tracking heavy snow, with accumulation totals expected to reach between 12 and 15 inches.