A massive amount of water from unusually heavy rain was flowing through flood-weary parts of the Southwest on Monday, forcing hundreds of evacuations and keeping swift-water rescue teams busy as elections officials in at least one town announced alternative voting plans for Election Day.
One person died in the flooding, and police suspect a second death also is weather-related. The National Weather Service estimated as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the Four Corners region — where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet — through Monday as the phenomenon fueled by the warming Pacific known as El Niño disrupts weather patterns.
Over 20 trillion gallons of water 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.
Officials had warned of “potentially catastrophic” flooding in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a town of more than 2,000 that was nearly wiped out in 1911 flood when the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters). Readings late Sunday night showed the river reached 16.81 feet (5.1 meters) this time before receding Monday, the weather service said.
Alternative voting plans were arranged for evacuated or marooned Pagosa Springs residents by the Colorado Secretary of State's office. Other elections officials also made recommendations for voters to cast their ballots before the storms hit.
More rivers rise, forcing more evacuations
People had to leave their homes along the Animas River in southwestern Colorado, where Durango police Chief Brice Current said authorities were checking Monday on residents who rode out the flooding at home.
"There is still a lot of people stranded,” Current said. “There’s a lot of emergency services being utilized today.”
The Animas River was closed to kayaks and other recreational watercraft, and Current warned that sewage and chemicals flushed into the river could make people sick. Riverside trails and foot bridges were also closed, he said.
“The water is very high right now,” Current said. “We don’t want to create any more emergencies by recreating.”
Evacuations also were ordered along the San Juan River in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation. The Utah Navajo Health System posted about highway closures and detours. The village of Chama in New Mexico was evacuated and cut off by road closures. Farther south, the rising Jemez River made campgrounds and fishing sites inaccessible.
Dry creekbeds turned to raging torrents in Arizona
Record rainfall numbers were reported across Arizona, including an eye-popping 7.3 inches (18.5 cm) over two days at Workman Creek, in a wilderness area northeast of Phoenix.
The two-day total of 5.15 inches (13 cm) in Flagstaff contributed to the wettest Nov. 1 ever recorded for that city, which typically has less than a handful of days per year where rainfall tops an inch, 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 Monday.
In Flagstaff, Arizona, where rain fell nearly nonstop Sunday, a man was seen falling into fast-moving floodwaters that went into a drainage tunnel near Northern Arizona University, police said. The body of Williams Singavarapu, 73, of New York, was found Monday about 12 hours later, about 15 blocks from where he vanished in the flood.
Flagstaff police said a second man, whose identity hasn’t been released, also was found dead Monday in a storm water drainage area. Police said it appeared to be weather-related but were awaiting an official cause and manner of death.
In Sedona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave Sunday as floodwaters trapped multiple people in their homes. The heavy rain washed out part of a main highway between Flagstaff and Sedona, mangling guard rails and leaving the road littered with boulders and trees. Arizona Department of Transportation crews were working to clear the roads and repair the damage.
Swiftwater rescues also were happening 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.”
And manhole covers were popping up in the Pinetop-Lakeside area of central Arizona, where residents reported sewage backing up into homes because of flooding, the region’s sanitary district announced.
Flooding in Colorado tourist town affects Election Day voting plans
In Pagosa Springs, town residents impacted by the floods who received a ballot by mail can get a replacement one at any vote center across the state, the secretary of state's office said.
Voters who cast in-person ballots outside their home county can vote for only statewide races, but mail ballots can be returned to any drop box or vote center in the state by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The La Plata County clerk will have special hours Tuesday to help.
Pagosa Springs had just lifted an evacuation order from previous flooding last week, only to reimpose it Saturday.
Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said Sunday that downtown was evacuated and streets flooded. She was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out, blocking trucks carrying everything from food to fuel.
“I’m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,” German said.
___
Marcelo reported from New York; Casey from Boston; and Weber from Los Angeles. Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
