PHOENIX — As former Hurricane Polo weakened over northwestern Mexico on Tuesday evening, the storm's remnants battered the U.S. Southwest, flooding roadways and forcing residents in small New Mexico towns to evacuate over concerns about a dam failing.
Polo had struck the Mexican state of Baja California Sur in the morning with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph). It crossed the Gulf of California and weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland to the northeast.
By Tuesday evening, the New Mexico Department of Transportation reported flooded roads and debris on highways across the state, while parts of Arizona had become especially drenched, leading to several water rescues.
That is after storms rolled through parts of the U.S. Southwest overnight Monday, saturating the ground, which can make flooding worse.
Later in the week, the flood risk is expected to move into parts of the central U.S., with heavy rain hitting Texas and Oklahoma beginning Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Southwest US sees heavy rains and floods
Bands of rain continued to sweep across the U.S. Southwest, causing desert rivers to surge and usually dry arroyos to rage with floodwater.
The potential failure of the dam in south central New Mexico prompted evacuations in three small communities with hundreds of residents along the Rio Grande. People in Rincon, Salem and Garfield were told to seek higher ground immediately "before conditions worsen." Residents were later told to evacuate from nearby Hatch, home to prized green chile crops, and farther north in Placitas.
Wide swaths of the U.S. Southwest were under flood watches as the complex system of tropical weather spread northeast from Mexico, with Polo as the main event.
"Definitely looking at the chances for urban flooding," weather service meteorologist Carter Greulich in Albuquerque said. "Don't drive through flooded roadways. Remain out of the arroyos, especially in our urban areas."
A person stranded on top of a vehicle in floodwaters west of Phoenix was rescued Tuesday morning. Video taken by Arizona Fire and Medical Services showed a helicopter lowering a rescuer to a person clinging to their overturned car. And in Zion National Park, in Utah, a helicopter rescued three people in Heaps Canyon after flash flooding hit.
North of Phoenix, a truck was swept away in a wash. The driver got out safely, Maricopa County sheriff's officials said.
The rocky, desert area typically gets less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain annually with little vegetation to soak it up, making flash flooding a perpetual risk.
The Bureau of Land Management in Arizona also reported significant flooding and damage to access roads in a national conservation area and a sand dunes recreation area in the southeastern part of the state.
Back in Utah, the East Fork of the Virgin River near Zion raged with chocolate floodwater and a shipping container floated downstream.
In the small town of Orderville, Utah, where flooding began Monday night, Sabrina Dubay was driving home when her partner called and told her to stay away.
"The river came in and swept around the entirety of our house," Dubay said.
A camper, snowmobile trailer, and other items from Dubay's yard were swept away by the river. Neighbors and friends arrived to dig a trench around the house as the water rose around their home.
"It was coming in through our front doors," she said.
An unusually soggy September across the region set the stage: When the ground is saturated, rainfall has nowhere to go but run off.
"Runoff is likely going to start much quicker and lead to those flooding impacts quicker," Greulich said.
By late Tuesday, rain had started in parts of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa were under flood watches, with flooding possible through at least Thursday.
Baja California residents were 'lucky'
Hurricane Polo pummeled Baja California Sur with powerful winds and rain as it made landfall.
After Polo passed over the small fishing town of Puerto San Carlos on the Baja California peninsula, residents waded among downed trees through ankle-high water that flooded some homes. Seeing their roughened community largely intact brought relief to those who had prepared for the worst.
Shopkeeper Elbia María Bachomo, 40, picked through furniture strewn through her home. She and her three children had gathered their clothes quickly and left for a shelter Monday as water began flooding into their home. Her husband was out on the water fishing for sardines when Polo hit. Bachomo said he was fortunate to escape alive.
"I thought, 'Oh no, what are we going to come back to? We will be left with nothing.' But we were lucky," she said.
Hundreds of people were in shelters Tuesday in Baja California Sur, but they were expected to return to their homes.
Meanwhile, the hurricane center reported Tropical Storm Rachel was moving parallel to Mexico's coast Tuesday and was expected to become a hurricane soon. The storm was about 300 miles (482.8 kilometers) west-southwest of Lazaro Cardenos with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (112.6 kph). It was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).
In the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Nolo was starting to slow Tuesday but still threatened dangerous conditions for parts of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area. The storm moved northward after drenching parts of the Big Island over the weekend.
Pacific storm activity has been above average this year. That is consistent with El Niño years.
