LA PLATA COUNTY, Colo. — Flooding brought on by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Priscilla is damaging homes and prompting evacuations in southwest Colorado.

A local disaster was declared in unincorporated La Plata County Saturday after hundreds of homes north of Vallecito Lake were evacuated due to flooding. On Sunday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) issued a verbal disaster emergency declaration to aid response and recovery efforts after the floods, according to a release from his office.

Vallecito Creek and Grimes Creek — both of which feed into Vallecito Lake — breached their banks Saturday morning, leading to the evacuation of more than 390 homes, according to La Plata County spokesperson Sarah Jacobson. The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District reported levee breaches on the west side of Vallecito Creek earlier in the day.

Vallecito Creek and Grimes Creek have had “unprecedented” flooding with a high of 7,200 cubic feet per second captured for Vallecito Creek, Jacobson said, which is more than double what a significant spring runoff event would produce.

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