Flooding and broken levees along a southern Colorado creek forced mandatory evacuations in La Plata County north of Vallecito Reservoir on Saturday morning.
The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District ordered immediate evacuations just after 10 a.m. for people living near Vallecito Creek after water began breaching the west side of the creek.
La Plata County officials set up a shelter at Bayfield High School, 800 County Road 501, for people who evacuated.
An online evacuation map from La Plata County shows mandatory evacuations along the creek, from Safley Road to the north and Mushroom Lane to the south.
Heavy rain has pushed Vallecito Creek’s water flow from 80 cubic feet per second on Thursday to 6,130 cubic feet per second just 48 hours later, at 12:45 p.m. Saturday, according to monitoring from the U.S. Geological Survey.
National Weather Service forecasters issued a flood warning for for the area through Tuesday, including La Plata, Archuleta, Hinsdale and San Juan counties.
“Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected,” forecasters wrote. “There is a potential for another round of heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday, which could lead to more flooding.”
The last significant flood event happened in October 2006, when flooding along Vallecito Creek broke through to surround at least 18 homes, according to the fire district.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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