Southwest Colorado braces for more rain and flooding

Southwest Colorado braces for more rain and flooding
October 14, 2025

LATEST NEWS

Southwest Colorado braces for more rain and flooding

DURANGO, Colo. (KRQE) – After major flooding over the weekend, southern Colorado is bracing for more rain set to hit overnight. Two of the most impacted communities are bracing for the next storm. “Mother nature provided a show like we haven’t ever seen before,” said Jesse Hensle, Vice President of Marketing for the Springs Resort.

Story continues below

  • Events: What’s happening in New Mexico October 10-16? ABQ Bruja Fest and more
  • Trending: Harmful algae blooms found in three more New Mexico lakes
  • Crime: Arrest made in fatal crash involving University of New Mexico Hospital employee

Footage from Monday afternoon shows the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, and while the Springs Resort said the high water levels have been dropping throughout the day, it was just two days ago that flood waters submerged the area. “The water came up over where this concrete walkway is and spilled over into what we call our golden pond. That’s something that has not happened before,” said Hensle.

The resort said they’ve been able to recover nearly all the ten pools they lost during the flooding, as another storm looms.

The flood waters also hit a community nearby on the same day, close to Vallecito Lake in La Plata County. “At about 5:30 in the morning, I got paged that there was an 800 cubic feet increase in the Vallecito Creek channel,” said Chief Bruce Evans, Upper Pine River Fire and Rescue.

Around 100 homes were damaged, and the rushing waters called for eleven swift water rescues. “Our first call came in about 7:30 for a call where we had flooding in two homes, and we had potentially someone trapped, is the way the dispatch came out,” said Evans.

Both Pagosa Springs and the Vallecito Lake communities have ordered evacuations as more rain is headed their way. “The warning for us has been right around midnight that the water is going to rise pretty quickly,” said Evans.

The National Weather Service is forecasting that an additional two to four inches of rain could hit the area. “Matter of fact, the weather service has showed us that that’s actually going to have more runoff than we had Saturday,” said Evans.

Upper Pine River Fire and Rescue, the La Plata Sheriff’s Office, and other county officials spoke with evacuees Monday night, assuring them that crews will be out throughout the night, working to protect bridges and homes. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it goes east and west of us. If we get the worst-case scenario again, like we did on Saturday, we’re all prepared for it,” said Evans.

In Pagosa Springs, a mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Hermosa and San Juan Streets, and all public parks in the downtown area are closed until further notice.

Share this post:

POLL

Who Will Vote For?

Other

Republican

Democrat

RECENT NEWS

Cold front tonight cools temperatures down slightly Friday

Cold front tonight cools temperatures down slightly Friday

Peloton recalls nearly 878,000 exercise bikes after several seat posts break

Peloton recalls nearly 878,000 exercise bikes after several seat posts break

Still dry, still mild, & breezier eventually

Still dry, still mild, & breezier eventually

Dynamic Country URL Go to Country Info Page