Flash flooding triggers evacuations in Southwest and dire warning for tony Colorado town

Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations in a swath of the Southwest on Sunday, including in a Colorado tourist town bracing for its main river to rise to historic levels, as weary residents in the normally arid region deal with another massive drenching.Officials in Pagosa Springs, a town of more than 2,000 in the Rockies located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs, warned of potentially “catastrophic flooding” as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 20 feet (6.1 meters) late Sunday night.“To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters),” the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.“This is a potentially catastrophic flood event.”By sundown Sunday, the river’s crest had reached about 14 feet (4.2 meters), according to Vicky Schaffer, a spokesperson for the county.

Roads in and out of the town were closed, and residents who weren’t under evacuation orders were urged to stay home.Communities in northern New Mexico and central Arizona, meanwhile, also issued mandatory evacuations while the rains forced the closure of several highways.In the picturesque town of Sedona, Arizona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave immediately as floodwaters trapped multiple people in their homes.Nearby Yavapai County and the community of Camp Verde issued similar evacuation orders for residents living near swollen rivers and creeks.More than 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Sedona, officials in Gila County ordered the total evacuation of Gisela, a community of several hundred residents along Tonto Creek.The wet conditions even produced flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Sedona.“We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of d...