San Juan River Floods Swallow Homes on Navajo Nation

Floodwater and debris swallowed homes and roads in Shiprock on Saturday, October 24, as the swollen San Juan River burst its banks across the Navajo Nation.

Footage released by the Navajo Police Department from a flyover shows brown water spreading across fields and neighbourhoods, surrounding houses, trees and farm buildings and cutting across roads along the river.

Officers also filmed muddy water pouring across Red Mesa Road in Red Mesa, Arizona, at about 6 p.m. that day, urging drivers to slow down and use extreme caution. On Sunday morning, police closed Highway 162 at milepost 17 in Montezuma Creek, Utah, where water had spread across the land beside the road.

The river crested at about 17.3 feet at Shiprock, well above its 15.5-foot flood stage, gauge readings showed, after the remnants of Hurricane Trudy dumped heavy rain on the Four Corners region. Upstream in Farmington, the river topped a record that had stood since 1909.