Dejavu deluge Remember the not-long-ago flooding in Ouray County, when monsoons rained down over burn scars? How about roughly a year ago in October, when the San Juan River flooded its banks and downtown Pagosa Springs? The floods are back, and they are bad. Montrose got a good dousing most of last week and through most of the weekend (and some localized flooding), but as for our neighbors elsewhere in the Southwest region, they got significant, sometimes life-threatening floods. Floods have taken out chunks of road, such as the highway between Ignacio and Pagosa Springs. Maybe you saw the footage on the nightly news, showing the San Juan as a raging torrent flowing right by certain — well, let’s be polite and say "daring" — people hanging out in hot springs and watching. Bluff, Utah, residents to the southeast of us were told in no uncertain terms to immediately evacuate on Sunday when the San Juan River surged there; the notice was, thankfully, lifted Monday morning. Closer to home, U.S. 550 was closed between Silverton and Ouray last Thursday afternoon because of flooding and road damage; it was reopened Friday afternoon. Another section of the highway closer to Durango closed between that city and the New Mexico state line on Friday, but was reopened the same day. Farmington, New Mexico, experienced a “once in a generation” flood that prompted evacuations. As we hope the best for our neighbors, now would also be a good time to sign up for Montrose County emergency alerts, if you have not already. Click here to get started. Also, visit ready.gov to learn how to create an emergency kit in case the day comes that we, too, need to evacuate. If a place as parched as Farmington can flood, so can Montrose. Also: if you are planning travel, it is always a good idea to visit cotrip.org first, to check road conditions and for other travel/closure alerts. Stay safe!
- Katharhynn, from the Newsroom
(Photo below, courtesy of CDOT, shows an aerial view of CO Highway 151 flood damage, between Ignacio and Pagosa Springs.)
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