DURANGO, Colo. (KDVR) — New drone video shows the Animas River swollen well beyond its banks in Durango on Wednesday, sweeping away debris, chewing into the shoreline and inching closer to homes.
“It’s over its banks — we had rain again last night. This morning, I looked out and it’s even higher than it was yesterday, so you never know,” said Patrick Dillon, who has lived in Durango for 25 years.
From above, what is typically a calm, winding ribbon through town now looks like a rushing torrent of mud and timber. Dillon said this week’s surge has been among the fastest he’s seen.
“This time of year is rare — in fact, our river almost dried up this year. We saw it go from a trickle to a raging river within about a week,” he said.
The high water has crept dangerously close to properties along the river corridor.
“There are some houses built along that estuary — really nice homes back in there. They’re probably within about five feet of having the water reach them,” Dillon said.
Even as blue skies returned at times on Wednesday, ominous clouds continued to stack over the mountains.
“Right now it’s sunny, but really dark clouds up toward the mountains — so who knows what’s going to happen later,” Dillon added.
Dillon credited the Colorado Department of Transportation and other state crews with mitigation work that he believes has helped keep the situation from being worse, including efforts to reinforce vulnerable stretches along the corridor.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
