Bigger flood hits Colorado towns a year after Trump's FEMA refused them disaster aid

Floodwater rose about 7 feet inside some homes along Colorado's Conejos River this week. In Pagosa Springs, the San Juan River crested at 15.02 feet ¹⁴. That is the second-highest crest on record and well above the major flood level of 12.6 feet ⁴. Across the state line in New Mexico, rescue crews pulled people off rooftops ⁴.

Pagosa Springs has been through this before. The Associated Press reported that the river ran 2 to 3 feet higher than a flood just over a year ago, which officials had called a 100-year flood ³. After that October 2025 flood, the Trump administration turned down Colorado's request for federal disaster aid. In April it rejected the state's final appeal ⁶⁷.

That matters because the administration is now telling states to plan on handling more disasters by themselves. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Cameron Hamilton told state emergency managers this week that states "must have the appropriate financial reserves" to start recovering after a disaster, Politico reported ⁹.

What happened this week

The storms started Wednesday. They were fed by the remains of Hurricane Trudy, which had weakened over the eastern Pacific ¹. Early totals showed 5.05 inches of rain in Pagosa Springs and 3.06 inches in Durango. Rain falling on snow and on ground already soaked by an earlier storm made the flooding worse ¹.

Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, verbally declared a disaster emergency Thursday night for 11 counties and added Conejos County on Friday ¹. He said about 1,000 families had been evacuated by Friday morning ¹. Nearly 100 Colorado National Guard members were helping authorities in Archuleta County, which includes Pagosa Springs ³. No deaths had been reported ¹⁵.

We won't begin to know the exact level of the damage until we're able to get back into some of the severely flooded areas.

In New Mexico, flooding affected about 2,000 people in and around Farmington, a city of 46,000. At least a couple hundred people had to be rescued ². New Mexico National Guard helicopters made 11 hoist rescues, each lifting as many as eight people ². The San Juan River at Farmington crested 2 feet above its old record, set in 1909 ⁵.

In nearby Bloomfield, floodwater reached the city's wastewater plant and sent untreated sewage into the San Juan River ⁴⁵. Downstream, the river flooded parts of the Navajo Nation and closed a 2-mile stretch of U.S. 64 west of Shiprock ². Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe warned residents, "This is not over, and we need you to monitor alerts" ².

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, is preparing to ask Washington for a federal emergency declaration for this week's flooding ⁵. On Friday she separately asked for a major disaster declaration for floods from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2. That request covers 14 counties and three tribal nations, with an estimated $27.1 million in damage to public infrastructure ⁵.

Right now, our focus is saving lives. If you're told to evacuate, go.

Last year's answer was no

The flooding of Oct. 10-14, 2025, hit La Plata, Archuleta and Mineral counties. It caused more than $13 million in damage verified jointly by state and federal officials, and it wiped out or badly damaged more than 60 miles of road ⁷. Nearly 400 homes were evacuated, and sewer systems in Pagosa Springs nearly failed completely ⁶.

FEMA denied Colorado's flood request on Dec. 20, 2025, along with a second request for two large wildfires in Rio Blanco County ⁶. The denial letter concluded that supplemental federal help was not needed ⁶. The final rejection came April 13, 2026. It cut off FEMA Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation money for the damaged communities, which together had more than $40 million in verified damage ⁷. The Polis administration said it was the first time in 35 years that Colorado had been denied a major disaster declaration ⁷.

Our damage assessments documented and showed that each of the disasters exceeded the federal thresholds for assistance,

Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican, asked the administration to work with the state on an appeal. He said local leaders and residents wanted FEMA to apply its criteria consistently so recovery could move forward ⁶. The appeal still failed ⁷.

The White House denied that politics played any part. A Politico analysis found the administration had approved about 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-leaning states and 98% of requests from Republican-leaning ones ⁸. Colorado's U.S. senators, Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, wrote that "Disasters are disasters, regardless of state lines or political parties" ⁸.

There is no politicization to the President's decisions on disaster relief

With no federal money coming, local leaders said they would have to manage on their own. Pagosa Springs Town Manager David Harris said the town would have to do "a lot of this ourselves" ⁶. Archuleta County Commissioner Warren Brown said, "Right now we are getting by, but that doesn't mean it's getting fixed right" ⁶.

What comes next

Colorado officials say they will measure the damage once the water goes down. Those assessments will help decide whether the state asks Washington for more help ¹. Since July 2024, the state has put more than $57.5 million into these and other disasters ⁷.

The pattern is hard to miss. These are mountain towns that state officials say had already met the federal standards for aid and were still turned down ⁷. Now they face a flood that is even bigger, while FEMA's chief tells states to have their own reserves ready ³⁹. Whatever Colorado and New Mexico ask for next will go to the same White House.

The Record

1. Oct 14, 2025Floods from Oct. 10-14 cause more than $13 million in verified damage in La Plata, Archuleta and Mineral counties and wreck more than 60 miles of road ⁷.
2. Dec 20, 2025FEMA denies Colorado's disaster requests for the flooding and the Elk and Lee wildfires, saying federal help is not needed ⁶.
3. Apr 13, 2026The Trump administration rejects Colorado's final appeals, the state's first such denial in 35 years, according to the Polis administration ⁷⁸.
4. Oct 22, 2026Gov. Jared Polis verbally declares a disaster emergency for 11 southern Colorado counties as rivers rise ¹.
5. Oct 24, 2026Hundreds of homes are still evacuated, and New Mexico prepares to ask for a federal emergency declaration ²⁵.

Sources

1. The Colorado Sun, “Major flooding in southern Colorado forces evacuations, with water reaching up to 7 feet high in some homes” (2026-10-23). coloradosun.com/2026/10/23/southern-colorado-flooding-south-
2. AP (via The Durango Herald), “Still more rain, evacuations remain in place from Four Corners region flooding” (2026-10-24). durangoherald.com/articles/associated-press/more-rain-is-exp
3. AP (via The Gazette), “Pagosa Springs experiencing once-a-century flooding” (2026-10-24). gazette.com/2026/10/24/pagosa-springs-experiencing-once-a-ce
4. KOB 4, “'Once-in-a-generation' flooding hits Four Corners region of New Mexico and southern Colorado” (2026-10-23). kob.com/news/top-news/once-in-a-generation-flooding-hits-fou
5. Los Alamos Reporter, “National Guard, State Police Carry Out Rescues As Historic Flooding Hits San Juan County” (2026-10-24). losalamosreporter.com/2026/10/24/national-guard-state-police
6. The Pagosa Springs Sun, “FEMA denies assistance for flooding aftermath” (2025-12-23). pagosasun.com/stories/fema-denies-assistance-for-flooding-af
7. Kiowa County Press, “Federal government denies final appeals for Colorado disaster aid” (2026-04-14). kiowacountypress.net/content/federal-government-denies-final
8. KUNC / CPR News, “Colorado will not receive FEMA aid for last year's fires and flooding” (2026-04-14). kunc.org/news/2026-04-14/colorado-will-not-receive-fema-aid-
9. KSAT / The Texas Tribune, “FEMA won't help Texans after July 2026 floods as agency tells states to lead disaster response” (2026-10-21). ksat.com/news/texas/2026/10/21/fema-wont-help-texans-after-j

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