Flooding overwhelms Four Corners communities as rescues continue and more rain looms

Intense rainfall has produced severe flooding across the Four Corners region, prompting evacuations, emergency declarations and ongoing rescues in parts of Colorado and New Mexico, according to reports from NPR and ABC News US. The flooding has forced rescuers to reach people by boat, helicopter and amphibious vehicle. San Juan County spokesman Devin Neeley said an unknown number of people were rescued overnight and more were being reached Friday, including residents taken from rooftops and houses containing between 3 and 4 feet of water.

Neeley said rivers were still rising even as skies began to clear, and that some forecast crests had already been exceeded. In Farmington, New Mexico, about 600 households were ordered to evacuate, while areas beside the San Juan River were closed. Other residents in low-lying areas were told to leave, while people elsewhere were advised to shelter in place until water levels receded.

Southern Colorado also faced dangerous conditions. Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux said a state helicopter was attempting to reach two adults and three dogs stranded in a partly submerged motor home. He described the wider damage as extensive across state, county and private infrastructure.

Le Roux said he was not aware of deaths or serious injuries by midday Friday, a point he called the best news authorities could hope for. However, many people whose houses had not flooded were still cut off by water, adding to the demands on emergency crews. Colorado Gov.

Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency in 11 counties after heavy rain and flooding in the state’s southwest. In nearby Rio Grande County, high water surrounded campground trailers and partially submerged trucks. ABC News reported that, in some southern Colorado locations, the flooding was three feet higher than a 100-year flood on the San Juan River recorded only a year earlier.

The effects extended into Utah and Arizona. In Hurricane, Utah, reddish-brown water reached or surrounded about 80 homes and 50 recreational vehicles after the city declared an emergency. A shipping container was seen drifting down a street.

Earlier in the week, tornadoes in Arizona damaged roofs, toppled trees onto houses and brought down power lines; at least one person was injured. The Four Corners is the only place in the United States where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet. Kate Abbott, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Junction, Colorado, said two months of rain had followed a summer drought and left the ground saturated.

More rain was forecast through the weekend, she said, warning that the region could not absorb much more moisture.