The San Juan River at Farmington, New Mexico, rose to 13.2 feet Friday morning—4.7 feet above flood stage—as severe flooding forced evacuations in New Mexico and Colorado and sent rescue crews into homes and onto rooftops. The National Weather Service’s river data projected a 14-foot crest Friday afternoon, while an AP report based on named local officials described an active, multiagency rescue operation.
About 600 households in Farmington were told to evacuate, city spokesperson Gina Intoppa told the AP. San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley said New Mexico Guard crews were using boats, helicopters and amphibious vehicles to reach people in houses with several feet of water and on rooftops. A separate local report confirmed that additional evacuation orders were issued Friday in San Juan County as river flooding expanded.
Flood emergencies span two states
In Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Mayor Shari Pierce and Town Manager David Harris declared a local disaster emergency after flooding closed parts of U.S. 160 and drove mandatory evacuations from low-lying areas along the San Juan, Rio Blanco, Navajo and Piedra rivers. The town’s official notice said crews were coordinating immediate safety operations, damage assessments and recovery planning. Colorado Public Radio reporting carried by KSUT independently documented the evacuations, road closures and emergency declarations across southwest Colorado.
Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux told the AP that a state helicopter was trying before midday to reach two adults and three dogs stranded in a partially submerged motor home. He said he knew of no deaths or serious injuries at that point, but described widespread damage to public, county and private infrastructure. That assessment remained preliminary: some properties were isolated by water even where buildings had not been inundated.
Warnings remain active after the rain
The river threat did not end when skies began clearing. The Weather Service extended warnings Friday for the San Juan and Animas rivers in San Juan County, telling motorists not to drive around barricades or through flooded roads and urging caution near riverbanks. At Farmington, the San Juan’s reported 13.2-foot level at 10 a.m. Mountain time was well above its 8.5-foot flood stage; forecasters expected it to remain above flood stage into Saturday.
The emergency is a material escalation from the system’s earlier phase, when destructive hail, wind and flood watches dominated warnings in Arizona. The Weather Service had already cautioned in a regional briefing that rain falling on mountain snow could produce rapid rises in rivers and arroyos across northwestern New Mexico. Repeated storms also left the ground saturated, increasing runoff into already swollen waterways.
The next critical checkpoints are the Farmington crest, the condition of roads and bridges after water recedes, and whether rescuers can reach every isolated household. Evacuation zones and road closures can change faster than static reports; residents should use city, county and Weather Service alerts for current instructions. The confirmed picture Friday afternoon was serious but still developing: hundreds of households had been ordered out, river warnings remained active, and officials had not yet produced a complete count of rescues, injuries or damage.
