Receding floodwaters leave a sea of mud in Southwest
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PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Skies began to clear Tuesday, but while floodwaters from almost two weeks of on-and-off heavy rain still inundated parts of the U.S. Southwest, other areas left mud-caked by receding torrents presented homeowners and businessowners with the filthy work of cleanup.
Jack Ellis, a retired schoolteacher, surveyed damage along the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, which has suffered through multiple rounds of severe flooding in recent weeks.
“This is quite a disaster for everybody, especially in the low-lying areas,” Ellis said. “We dig in and dig out, and that’s what it’s going to take.”
In all, more than 20 trillion gallons of rain -- 10 months of the flow over Niagara Falls -- have fallen on the Four Corners states and Nevada in the past two weeks, according to former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue.
The U.S. Southwest has endured two recent major rounds of storms, with rain falling on ground already saturated from an especially wet fall.
One person died in floodwaters, and police suspect a second death was weather-related.
Skies were clearing after some rivers crested at levels lower than forecasted overnight, offering a measure of relief to areas that were bracing for more catastrophic flooding, including Shiprock and Farmington in northwestern New Mexico. Devin Neeley, a spokesperson for San Juan County, New Mexico, said major rivers in the area remained above flood stage.
“Now it’s a waiting game for the waters to recede,” Neeley said, adding that the county would likely soon lift evacuation orders impacting at least 20,000 residents and begin to focus on recovery.
The situation wasn’t unique to the region. As downpours swamped eastern Florida, at least 20 polling places were changed in at least eight counties after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an emergency declaration.
Flooded areas included Brevard County on the east-central coast, where over 2 feet of rain has fallen since Sunday. In Palm Beach County in southeast Florida, over 20 inches fell, cutting off access to condominiums and submerging cars in parking places.
Some communities in Colorado and Utah, too, had to make alternative Election Day voting plans because of the flooding.
Alyssa Gallegos, a contract mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, spent Tuesday morning helping get mail-in ballots from mailboxes to the post office in time for a 7 p.m. deadline for counting.
“Regardless if we’re in a crisis and having a hard time, the world doesn’t stop turning,” Gallegos said. “They’re not gonna wait for us, so we just gotta stay with it.”
In Rock Point, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation, officials were forced to relocate a polling place because of flooding impacts. Valinda Shirley, vice president of the Rock Point Chapter, the local seat of tribal government, said hundreds of voters were still unable to cast ballots in both the U.S. midterms and the Navajo Nation presidential election because a major bridge closure and washed-out dirt roads left them stranded on election day.