Hundreds of southwest Colorado homes affected by flood, state officials estimate – The Denver Post

Hundreds of southwest Colorado homes affected by flood, state officials estimate  The Denver Post

Severe flooding swept across Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma, Ouray, Rio Grande, San Juan and San Miguel counties last week. As the floodwaters recede in southwestern Colorado, response teams are just starting to gauge the extent of devastation . “It’s not going to be fixed immediately,” Southwest Incident Management Team Commander Doug Fritz told residents gathered for a Monday night community meeting in South Fork. “It’s going to take awhile. That’s the bad news.” Severe flooding swept across at least 12 Colorado counties last week, prompting Gov. Jared Polis to issue a disaster emergency declaration. That includes Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma, Ouray, Rio Grande, San Juan and San Miguel counties.

The declaration activated the Colorado National Guard to support areas impacted by flooding, including evacuation and search-and-rescue efforts. As of Tuesday morning, the Guard had helped rescue 33 stranded residents and more than a dozen pets, mostly in Archuleta County spokesperson Staff Sgt. Patrick Crosley said. “We don’t know the condition of all the roads,” U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Patrick Moran said during the South Fork community meeting. “We have hundreds and hundreds of miles out there, and we have people getting stuck and needing rescue.” Those rescue efforts are pulling resources from the local damage assessments and repairs in