Four Corners flooding forces evacuations and complicates Election Day voting

Unusually heavy rain swamped parts of the arid Southwest on Monday, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes and disrupting local election plans. Police confirmed one death in the flooding and suspect a second fatality is also weather-related. The National Weather Service warned that up to four inches of rain could fall across the Four Corners region, where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah intersect.

Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue calculated that more than 20 trillion gallons of water had fallen on the Four Corners states and Nevada over the prior two weeks. El Niño, a climate pattern driven by warming Pacific waters, is disrupting typical weather patterns in the area. Officials in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, had warned of potentially catastrophic flooding for the town of 2,000. The San Juan River reached 16.81 feet late Sunday, flooding downtown streets before receding on Monday.

The Colorado Secretary of State's office arranged alternative voting plans for evacuated or stranded residents in Pagosa Springs. Officials urged other voters to cast ballots before the storms intensified. In southwestern Colorado, Durango police Chief Brice Current noted that many residents remained stranded along the Animas River. He stated that authorities were checking on people who stayed in their homes while sewage and chemicals contaminated the water.

Arizona recorded its highest rainfall in recent history, with 7.3 inches falling in two days near Phoenix. Flagstaff received 5.15 inches, marking its wettest November 1 on record. NWS meteorologist Jennifer Tate noted that the rain system was broad and affected many locations. Williams Singavarapu, 73, of New York, was found dead in a Flagstaff drainage tunnel on Monday. Police are waiting for an official cause of death for a second unidentified man found in a drainage area.

In Sedona, officials ordered residents near Oak Creek to leave as floodwaters trapped people in their homes. The heavy rain washed out a main highway between Flagstaff and Sedona, leaving boulders and trees across the road. In central Arizona, manhole covers popped up in the Pinetop-Lakeside area, causing sewage to back into homes. In Utah, Ryan Benally built dirt berms to protect his parents' ranch near Montezuma Creek. He said the storms have been continuous and that emergency routes for remote residents have washed out.

Pagosa Springs lifted an evacuation order from flooding the previous week only to reimpose it on Saturday. Katie German, owner of Bruin Coffee, said downtown streets flooded and residents were evacuated. She expressed concern for her business and employees. Mail ballots for Pagosa Springs voters can be returned to any drop box or vote center in Colorado by 7 p.m. on Election Day. In-person voters outside their home county may vote only for statewide races.

The National Weather Service reported that the Jemez River in New Mexico made campgrounds inaccessible. Highway closures and detours were posted for the Navajo Nation in Utah. The village of Chama in New Mexico was evacuated and cut off by road closures. Swift-water rescue teams remained active in Tucson, where meteorologist Aaron Hardin said the area received two or three months of rain in a couple of days.