Colorado's Pagosa Springs Braces for Historic Flood as Mandatory Evacuations Ordered in Arizona and New Mexico

Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding across the south-west of the United States on Sunday, and mandatory evacuations were ordered in several areas. They included the Colorado tourist town of Pagosa Springs, where the main river was forecast to rise to historic levels.

More than 2,000 people live in Pagosa Springs, a town in the Rockies near ski resorts and known for its hot springs. Officials warned of potentially catastrophic flooding as the San Juan River was forecast to crest at more than 20 feet (6.1 metres) late on Sunday night.

The Archuleta County sheriff's office said in a Facebook post that during the devastating 1911 flood, which wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet. 'This is a potentially catastrophic flood event,' the office said.

By sundown on Sunday the river's crest had reached about 14 feet, according to Vicky Schaffer, a spokesperson for the county. Roads in and out of the town were closed, and residents who were not under evacuation orders were urged to stay home.

Communities in northern New Mexico and central Arizona also issued mandatory evacuations, while the rains forced the closure of several highways.

In 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 (160km) south-east of Sedona, officials in Gila County ordered the total evacuation of Gisela, a community of several hundred residents along Tonto Creek. The wet conditions also produced flash floods, river flooding and swift boat rescues in Tucson, some 230 miles south of Sedona.

'We are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days,' said Aaron Hardin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.

Rain fell nearly nonstop on Sunday in Flagstaff, Arizona, flooding local roads and overwhelming storm drains. Authorities were searching for a man who slipped and fell into fast-moving floodwaters and was not seen resurfacing, according to a police statement on Sunday evening.

The latest round of soaking rains started on Saturday evening and was expected to saturate the region through Monday. The weather service estimates as much as 4 inches (10cm) of rain could fall across the region, fuelled by a series of Pacific storm systems.

The weather service issued flood warnings and watches for nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Utah, south-western Colorado and western New Mexico, in addition to part of southern Nevada. That includes the sparsely populated Four Corners region where the states meet.