{"id":3593,"date":"2026-11-02T17:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T17:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/?p=3593"},"modified":"2026-11-02T17:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T17:03:22","slug":"floodwaters-swamp-southwest-forcing-evacuations-altering-some-election-day-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/?p=3593","title":{"rendered":"Floodwaters swamp Southwest, forcing evacuations, altering some Election Day voting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Some rivers began receding in the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/sedona-arizona-pagosa-springs-colorado-southwest-flooding-bb4bb89daf78484fb97496dfd88c4a10\">flood-weary Southwest<\/a> on Monday, including in a Colorado tourist town that has to alter its Election Day voting plans, while others were still rising, keeping residents on alert as rain began to move out of the area. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/southwest-arizona-rain-flooding-four-corners-d2c143efb5ca8f4a6efbbcaeb14ed228\">Heavy weekend rainfall<\/a> produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations across a swath of the Southwest, including parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah in the Four Corners region and in northern and central Arizona. The weather service estimated as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain could fall across the region through Monday, fueled by a series of Pacific storm systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Evacuees included some residents along the rising Animas River in southwestern Colorado, where all La Plata County roads remained closed Monday because of widespread flooding and damage to bridges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Officials warned of \u201cpotentially catastrophic\u201d flooding in Pagosa Springs in neighboring Archuleta County, a town of more than 2,000 located near ski resorts and known for its hot springs. But readings late Sunday night showed the San Juan River started to recede after reaching 16.81 feet (5.1 meters) and was forecast to keep dropping Monday, the National Weather Service said. The sheriff&#8217;s office had warned that most of the town was wiped out by a 1911 flood that crested at approximately 17.8 feet (5.4 meters).<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The flooding prompted the Colorado Secretary of State&#8217;s office to set up alternative voting plans for Pagosa Springs residents. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The San Juan River was still rising Monday further downstream, in New Mexico, where new evacuations were ordered for some residents in San Juan County, including some Navajo communities. The Utah Navajo Health System posted several active highway closures, with detours. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Others were evacuated from New Mexico&#8217;s Rio Arriba County, where the Rio Chama was under a flood warning through Tuesday. Still farther south, the rising Jemez River made campgrounds and fishing sites inaccessible. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In the picturesque town of Sedona, Arizona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave Sunday as floodwaters trapped multiple people in their homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cMost of the rain is winding down,\u201d David Byers, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Grand Junction, Colorado, said Monday. The next few days look drier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In Pagosa Springs, town residents impacted by the floods who haven&#8217;t voted yet can also &#8220;visit any voter center across the state to request and receive a replacement ballot,\u201d the Secretary of State&#8217;s office said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Those who decide to cast in-person ballots outside their home county can only vote for statewide races, the office said. But if they have access to their mail ballot, they can return that ballot to any drop box or voter center in the state by 7 p.m. on Election Day and it will make it back to their county clerk for signature verification and tabulation, the office said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Voting centers will still be open in La Plata County, but some county offices, including the clerk&#8217;s office, will have special hours on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Katie German, owner and chef of Bruin Coffee in Pagosa Springs, said Sunday that downtown had been evacuated and that there was street flooding. German said she was most worried about the one bridge into town washing out, preventing trucks carrying everything from food to fuel from getting in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Town officials had just lifted an evacuation order from flooding last week only to reimpose it Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI\u2019m worried about my business, worried about my employees, definitely worried for everybody in this town,\u201d German said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Arizona&#8217;s Yavapai County and the community of Camp Verde <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100069130843349\/posts\/1427394446241570\/?app=fbl\">ordered evacuations<\/a> of residents living near swollen rivers and creeks. And Gila County officials ordered the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GCPHCS\/posts\/pfbid0cLD4fSsfN8dnuUs1y6nduwPSkWWmjViXgc41grUR8Q5s7RPAt4kdcPNnBMyHhaMTl\">total evacuation<\/a> of Gisela, a community of several hundred along Tonto Creek. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The wet conditions even produced flash floods, river flooding and swiftboat rescues in Tucson, where weather service meteorologist Aaron Hardin said \u201cwe are getting two or three months of rain in a span of a couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Rain fell nearly nonstop 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 \u201cand was not seen resurfacing,\u201d a police statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And in the Pinetop-Lakeside area of central Arizona, \u201cmanhole covers are popping up all over\u201d and residents reported sewage backing up into homes because of flooding, the region\u2019s sanitary district announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u2014-<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Marcelo reported from New York; Casey from Boston; and Weber from Los Angeles. Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/wireStory\/floodwaters-swamp-southwest-forcing-evacuations-altering-election-day-137772563\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some rivers began receding in the flood-weary Southwest on Monday, including in a Colorado tourist town that has to alter its Election Day voting plans, while others were still rising, keeping residents on alert as rain began to move out of the area. Heavy weekend rainfall produced flash flooding and mandatory evacuations across a swath&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}