Days of heavy rain have turned parts of the normally arid Four Corners region into what looks more like an ocean than a desert, prompting evacuations and causing damage that New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham estimates could reach $300 million. The latest evacuation order hit the tiny Utah town of Bluff, where parts of the community of 250 were underwater Monday as the San Juan River swamped areas upstream in Colorado and New Mexico.
Mayor Josh Ewing said the saturated ground has him worried about a forecast for more heavy rain Friday night and again on Sunday. "It's the second flood that really gets you, you know, because everything is completely saturated. And so we're trying to recover fast enough to be on alert for what might happen," Ewing said. Hundreds of homes in Farmington, New Mexico, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and elsewhere along the San Juan and Animas rivers remained evacuated or cut off by flooded roads, with many still without power.
President Donald Trump announced federal disaster assistance for New Mexico on Monday, requiring a 25% state match. Lujan Grisham said she would "frontload" state resources for recovery, estimating costs for debris removal, road and bridge repair, and other long-term work could reach $300 million. "I don't care if it's a billion dollars. The goal here is to identify every state, every federal, every local resource and get it where it belongs," she said.
At least two deaths were reported in New Mexico. Isabelle Beulaygue, 39, was swept away Saturday while trying to cross a flooded arroyo in a vehicle in Santa Fe. In Socorro County, 64-year-old Grace Clark was swept away as floodwaters trapped residents; nine others were rescued. Between 200 and 300 people were rescued in San Juan County over recent days.
The crisis extended across the Navajo Nation, spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. In Farmington, Lupita Villa and her family returned to their rental home Saturday to find laminate floors warped under inches of muddy water and furniture destroyed. They are staying with relatives on higher ground while her children struggle to understand their home is unlivable. Flooding also continued in southern Colorado's Archuleta County.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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