Rain that began on Wednesday and barely let up has turned the high desert around the only point where four US states touch, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, into a flood zone. At Shiprock, on the Navajo Nation, the San Juan River topped out at 21 feet on Saturday, a level not seen there since 1935. Hundreds of homes were emptied over the weekend and crews carried out a large number of water rescues.
Officials have confirmed one death. The victim was a woman in Santa Fe who was carried off by the current as her family attempted to drive through a dry creek bed that had filled with water; a man and a child from the car got out alive. The same city had already been hit by a tornado on Saturday night.
In New Mexico’s San Juan County the rescue phase is over, but the danger has changed shape rather than gone. Fire chief David Vega warned that the water is carrying fuel, pesticides, fertiliser, raw sewage and oilfield waste, and advised anyone exposed to wash their clothes separately. Residents were told to hold off on any cleanup for now; the worst streets were, in the words of county manager Mike Stark, as “a disaster zone”. About 400 customers have had power cut deliberately for safety, and police are patrolling around the clock to deter looting. Downstream in Utah, Bluff residents were let back in on Monday, while Montezuma Creek and Aneth also saw evacuations.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has asked Washington for an emergency declaration, pleading with the White House for federal aid without delay. Twelve Colorado counties are now under an emergency order signed by Governor Jared Polis. Forecasters suspect El Niño is feeding the unusual storms, and there is little time to recover: another system is expected from Thursday into the weekend, possibly as strong as the last.
