Pagosa Springs Begins Digging Out After Second Round of Flooding

Floodwaters were receding across southeast Colorado on Tuesday, leaving residents of Pagosa Springs and surrounding communities to shovel out mud and assess damaged homes after two rounds of severe flooding.

Jack Ellis, a retired school teacher, surveyed damage along the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs. "This is quite a disaster for everybody, especially in the low-lying areas," Ellis said. "We dig in and dig out, and that's what it's going to take." More than 20 trillion gallons of rain have fallen on the Four Corners states and Nevada over the past two weeks, according to calculations by former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue.

One person died in the floodwaters, and police suspect a second death was weather-related. Hundreds of evacuees were returning home Tuesday while swift-water rescue teams remained active. In New Mexico's San Juan County, officials said the San Juan, Animas and La Plata rivers have all crested. "None are below flood stage, but will continue to recede," the agency posted online Tuesday.

In Durango, about 60 miles west of Pagosa Springs, Willow Bradner's ranch-style home was surrounded by about 2 feet of mud. Nearly five feet of water from the overflowing Junction Creek poured inside. "Our basement became a soup bowl," Bradner said. The basement had been a selling point when she bought the property in 2024. Bradner runs a custom closet and storage business with her husband and said they were told they were outside the flood zone when they asked about flood insurance.

"The majority of our savings is in this house," Bradner said. "We have to dig deep and we have to rebuild." The family has been offered a place to stay through the end of the year.

Officials said cleanup and repairs in Pagosa Springs could take weeks or more. Walkways and bridges collapsed or were heavily damaged. Some communities in Colorado and Utah made alternative Election Day voting plans because of the flooding.