Durango awoke Sunday morning to face the aftermath of torrential downpours and violent flash flooding that took place in the early-morning hours.
The flash flood watch for Durango was lifted at 9 a.m. However, a flash flood advisory was put in place for Archuleta County until 11:30 a.m.
While county roads were quickly cleared of debris, many of Durango’s city streets told a much different story.
City and street crews began working on a clogged storm drain about 2 a.m. at the southern end of Goeglein Gulch Road, where the water pressure was so high it lifted an 800-pound concrete drain cover, allowing water to flood streets below.
By Sunday evening, crews had cleared the clogged drain, according to a Facebook update from the city.
As of 8 a.m. Monday, Durango had received almost another half inch of rain at the airport in addition to the 2 inches the city received early Sunday, Ramey said. However residents have reported much more in some areas.
“It was very, very variable,” Ramey said.
Tuesday through Thursday is expected to be fairly dry. The weekend promises widespread showers, however, it is unknown whether it will be Saturday or Sunday, he said.
Significant asphalt damage on the road surface near the flood drain was caused by the velocity of the torrent racing over streets, said Durango’s Street Superintendent Levi Lloyd.
Durango’s official measurement from the storm came in at 2 inches, but reports of more than 4 inches came in from around town.
The National Weather Service expected heavy rain to continue – with an 80 percent chance of heavy rain expected Sunday night.
The weather service has a flash-flood watch in effect for Southwest Colorado until 9 a.m. today.
Joe Civiletto, owner of Kangaroo Express at College Drive and East Eighth Avenue, said when the storm drain became blocked, the overflow surged toward his business.
“So much debris came down,” he said. “It piled up against the vehicles and dammed, so then the water started piling up.”
The delivery service took water inside the building, and the exterior grounds were buried by gravel, mud and branches.
Civiletto said he was initially concerned about a leaking roof, but he found many more problems.
Sgt. Jeremiah Lee, with the Durango Police Department, said officers were busy beginning around 1:30 a.m.
“Peoples’ houses were flooding, debris was flowing in the roads, cars were running into debris, running off the road,” he said. “There was an extensive amount of water.”
Evidence of raging floods could be seen at several intersections downtown. One large dumpster was carried and beaten by flood waters from the top of Goeglein Gulch Road to the 400 bock of College Drive. Parked cars everywhere in the water’s path had stacks of twigs and branches at their tires or piles of gravel and mud pushed underneath them. Sidewalks were covered. Gutters were filled.
At the onset of the brimming torrent, about 1:25 a.m., a man was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol when his vehicle struck a light pole in the 2700 block of Main Avenue.
According to police reports, after hitting the pole, the car was engulfed in flames, and gasoline began spilling into the flooding street, catching fire and traveling with the current.
“There was fire on top of the water,” Lee said.
As the rain continued, U.S. Highway 550 was closed because of mudslides between 3 and 6 a.m., according to Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks.
“Then we had mud at U.S. Highway 160 and 550 at Farmington Hill, but that didn’t stop traffic,” she said. “We just did some serious clearing.”
A few blocks from downtown Main Avenue, homeowner Todd Youngblood and his neighbor, Cliff Pinto, awoke to find a lake in their yards in the 300 block of East Fourth Avenue. Pinto’s basement was flooded to the top of the steps, and his backyard was several feet underwater.
“It’s flooded once since we’ve lived here, but not as bad as this,” Pinto said, wearing knee-high rubber boots while surveying the damage.
Pinto, who owns Pedal the Peaks, said previous tenants claimed to have kayaked in the backyard during a flood in the mid-1990s.
“It’s been an ongoing thing, I guess,” he said.
Youngblood said during the 2½ years he has lived in his home, he has never seen anything like it.
“It’s the most water we’ve had here,” he said. “Nothing like having a swimming pool in your front yard when you wake up.”
At Pinto’s place, power was disconnected, and pumps were on the way.
Butch Knowlton, La Plata County director of emergency management, said county crews began plowing East Animas Road (County Road 250) and County Road 203 early in the morning, and they were able to stay ahead of the game, unlike during the autumn storm of 2013, when East Animas Road was closed for a landslide, and County Road 203 and Highway 550 flooded.
“It’s nothing compared to last year,” Knowlton said.
The National Weather Service in Grand Junction posted warnings of flash flooding, including an alert to mobile devices during the middle of the night.
Between midnight and 6 a.m., the city received as much as 2 inches of precipitation, said John Kyle, an employee with the National Weather Service.
However, one reader, Bruce Rodman, who lives in the Skyridge subdivision near Fort Lewis College, sent a photograph of his rain gauge that measured over 4½inches.
Local officials are urging motorists to take extra precautions while traveling, and to not drive on roadways that are covered in mud, debris or water.
With September’s normal precipitation at 1.9 inches, Sunday’s storm more than doubles that, and more is on the way.
“That’s quite a lot,” John Renwick, a forecaster with the weather service, said. “You are having one heck of a summer down there.”
Late August through October is the wet time for the region because of tropical storms off the coast of Mexico.
The region missed out on moisture from Hurricane Odil. However, there are still some tropical storms south of Mexico’s Baja that could bring heavy reain to the region, Ramey said.
Reporter Mary Shinn contributed to this report.
