A National Weather Service flood watch covered much of the Four Corners on Sunday as communities in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah faced another round of potentially heavy showers and thunderstorms after days of flooding forced evacuations and water rescues. CBS News reports on the continuing flood threat and local impacts.
In southwestern Colorado, the Colorado Department of Transportation said water levels in the San Juan River increased significantly overnight, and the San Juan River Bridge remained closed. CBS News also reported that a home in Pagosa Springs was inundated by floodwater. The report details the river conditions, bridge closure and damage.
In San Juan County, New Mexico, floodwaters were receding but had left mud and silt, much of it contaminated with sewage because of failures at waste plants, according to county spokesperson Devin Neeley. The county did not have official figures for damaged homes or evacuees, and Neeley said he was not aware of any deaths. CBS News describes the county’s reported contamination and damage information.
Power outages were still affecting multiple areas, and Neeley said it could take several days for residents to regain service. He described the area as an active disaster zone, while officials continued to deal with damage and cleanup. The CBS News account reports the outage and restoration timeline.
CBS News meteorologist Andrew Kozak said repeated torrential rain and storms could flood roads, small streams, narrow canyons and burn scars. The rain was expected to expand across the central and northern Plains Sunday night before moving toward the Upper Midwest on Monday and Tuesday, according to the report. CBS News attributes the forecast risk to Kozak.
A separate CBS News report on an earlier Grand Canyon flood described limits affecting warning and water infrastructure in similarly vulnerable terrain. An alert system at Bright Angel Creek detected rising water but later went offline as the flood moved downstream; officials had not determined whether debris or another factor caused the failure. The flooding also severely damaged the park’s main water pipeline, leaving officials with about two weeks of water, the report said. That earlier account provides the warning-system and water-supply context.