Rain clears but flood risk remains high after destructive storms swamp
normally arid US Southwest
[November 03, 2026]
By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and RUSS BYNUM
The skies were clearing, but the risk of flooding remained over parts of
the U.S. Southwest after powerful downpours sent massive amounts of
water surging over the usually dry landscape, forcing hundreds to
evacuate and keeping swift-water rescue teams busy.
Officials said cleanup and repair efforts could take weeks. One person
died in the floodwaters and police suspect a second death was
weather-related.
The National Weather Service said Monday that isolated cloudbursts were
still possible across the Four Corners region — where New Mexico,
Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — as the phenomenon stoked by warming
Pacific waters known as El Niño disrupts weather patterns.
Damage was widespread in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a town of about
2,000. Officials feared the San Juan River that flows through it would
top a level that nearly wiped out the town in 1911. The river reached
16.81 feet (5.1 meters) Sunday — a foot lower than the historic level —
flooding downtown streets before receding Monday, the weather service
said.
An entire home was lifted from its foundation and floated down the river
before crashing into a pedestrian bridge. A section of a road bridge
west of town crumbled under raging waters, said Archuleta County
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Vicki Shaffer.
Dozens of people were rescued across the region, including some by
helicopter. Shaffer said first responders were searching for people who
may be stranded.
“That will continue, just like last week, until we’re sure that
everybody who was trapped by the floodwaters has been rescued,” she
said.
The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened several closed
bridges and roadways late Monday. Shaffer said evacuation orders remain
in place, though she wasn't sure how many people were affected.
Pagosa Springs had just lifted an evacuation order from a previous
storm, only to reimpose it Saturday.
More than 20 trillion gallons of rain have fallen on the Four Corners
states and Nevada in the past two weeks, according to calculations by
former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist
Ryan Maue.
With Election Day coming, officials in Colorado and Utah arranged
alternative voting plans for evacuated or stranded residents.
Utah said Monday that residents of hard-hit San Juan County will be
allowed to vote electronically because some of them may not be able to
reach polling places.
More rivers rise, forcing evacuations
Evacuations were ordered along the San Juan River in New Mexico, which
officials warned was still rising and could crest Tuesday through
Wednesday. The village of Chama, New Mexico, was also evacuated and cut
off by road closures.
Residents had to leave their homes along the Animas River in
southwestern Colorado, where Durango police Chief Brice Current said
authorities were checking Monday on those who rode out the flooding at
home.
"There's still a lot of people stranded,” Current said.
Willow Bradner and her family have been staying in a hotel since their
Durango home flooded this weekend.
“We went from ‘we’re going to be safe’ to ‘pack a go-bag’ in 45
minutes,” she recalled. Her basement is now filled with water, with the
house surrounded by more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of mud.
On Monday, Greg Ewing was among some 200 community members who used
shovels and skid steers to remove the mud in Bradner's neighborhood.
“That’s the cool thing about Durango. It’s a really strong community.
Everyone comes together,” Ewing said.
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La Plata County Sheriff's Office deputy Brayton Thurber carries an
infant from a trailer at Junction Creek Mobile Home Park, Sunday,
Nov. 1, 2026, in Durango, Colo., while evacuating the park as
Junction Creek floods out of its banks. (Jerry McBride/The Durango
Herald via AP)
Dry Arizona creek beds turned to raging torrents
Record rainfall was reported across Arizona, including 7.3 inches (18.5
centimeters) over two days at Workman Creek, a wilderness area near
Phoenix.
Flagstaff totaled 5.15 inches (13 centimeters) over two days,
contributing to its wettest Nov. 1 ever recorded. The city typically has
fewer than a handful of days per year of rain exceeding 1 inch (2.5
centimeters), said meteorologist Jennifer Tate with the NWS Weather
Prediction Center.
“What really stood out to me was that this wasn’t localized. It was a
very broad system that brought a lot of rain to a lot of places,” Tate
said.
A man was seen falling into floodwaters rushing into a drainage tunnel
in Flagstaff, where rain fell nearly nonstop Sunday. Police said the
body of Williams Singavarapu, 73, of New York, was discovered Monday
about 15 blocks from where he disappeared.
A second man was found dead Monday in a drainage area, Flagstaff police
said, adding it appeared to be weather-related, pending an official
determination on the cause of death.
In Sedona, floodwaters trapped several people in their homes, and heavy
rain washed out part of a highway.
Nearby in Camp Verde, Doug Michaels was cooking dinner at an RV park
when he saw people evacuating as water rose. He was able to get himself,
his wife, cat and valuables to safety and raise his camper higher off
the ground. But he said others fared much worse.
“It's devastating,” he said. “People lost their homes. The one lady
doesn't even know where her camper is. It went down the river.”
Swift-water rescues also were conducted in Tucson, where weather service
meteorologist Aaron Hardin said “we are getting two or three months of
rain in a span of a couple of days.”
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a statewide emergency declaration on
Monday after recently issuing an emergency for Navajo and Coconino
counties. The governors of New Mexico and Colorado asked President
Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to receive federal funding
assistance.
Swaths of southern Utah are inundated
Ryan Benally spent the weekend building dirt berms to divert floodwaters
from his parents’ home on the Navajo Nation near Montezuma Creek, Utah.
So far, the barriers have held, though parts of their small cattle ranch
were under water.
Benally, an assistant professor at Utah State University, has been
coordinating deliveries of bottled water, waterproof boots, toiletries
and other supplies to shelters. Families who stayed at home were
increasingly difficult to reach, he said, because access routes for some
remote residents washed out.
Benally said his parents, both in their 60s, have lived in the area all
their lives and have never seen flooding this severe.
“These storms have been one after another after another,” Benally said.
“It’s compounding in ways people out here just weren’t prepared for.”
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AP journalists Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Raza in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Savannah Peters in Santa Fe, New Mexico;
Gregory Bull in Durango, Colorado; Ross D. Franklin in Camp Verde,
Arizona; and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.
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