Overview
- Local officials have ordered mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra rivers and closed San Juan and Hermosa streets as the new storm approaches Sunday.
- The National Weather Service says a moisture-rich atmospheric river could drop roughly 2 to 5 inches of precipitation with high snow levels that will leave much of the runoff as rain.
- Rivers and streams already swollen by last week’s near-historic flooding may crest far higher this time, with forecasts warning crests could approach or exceed the 1911 San Juan River mark.
- Damage from the earlier floods — washed-out roads, harmed wastewater systems and limited heavy-equipment access — is complicating evacuations and recovery and prompted local leaders to seek a federal major disaster declaration.
- Counties are pre-filling sandbags, running shelters, issuing water-safety and private-well testing advisories, and warning residents that emergency crews may not be able to reach those who stay behind so people should leave now if ordered.