In addition to area roads, highways, water and wastewater infrastructure, last week’s flooding resulted in multiple other infrastructure issues, some of which are ongoing.
Power outages
As of midday Wednesday, Oct. 28, nearly 100 La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) meters remained out, with those going out on Oct. 23.
Of those, 58 are in the Arboles area and 29 are in the area of East Pagosa Street in Pagosa Springs.
In a message to customers, LPEA explains, “Following this weekend’s heavy rains and flooding, our crews are continuing to make repairs and restore power across our service area. While many of the outages that occurred this weekend have been resolved, flood damage and limited access have made some areas more difficult to address.”
The Oct. 26 email then provides a “snapshot” of some of the outages.
The email explains that, on Bull Elk Place/Chromo Mountain, “Flooding washed out equipment serving this subdivision. Crews completed repairs and restored power as of 2:09 PM today, Monday, October 26.”
It notes that, in the area of the Malt Shoppe in downtown Pagosa Springs, “Flooding compromised equipment. Crews are working to safely reroute power before re-energizing this area.”
In the joint town and county work session on Monday, Oct. 26, it was explained that required boring under U.S. 160.
In terms of the County Road 500 (Trujillo Road) outage, it explains, “This outage area is still flooded and inaccessible. Crews will assess the damage and make repairs as soon as they can safely get into the area.”
On the Upper Blanco, it explains, “Flooding washed out multiple power poles.”
In the area of County Road 339 and Carrico Street, south of U.S. 84, it notes, “We’ve confirmed that multiple poles are down in this neighborhood, but due to flooding crews haven’t been able to access them and make repairs yet.”
For the area of Colo. 151, it states, “While no members are out on this segment of line, there are multiple downed poles that will have to be addressed when we can safely reach them.”
The email continues, “We’d like to acknowledge and thank our crews for the incredible work they were able to accomplish throughout the weekend. We saw several instances of trees falling into our power lines, poles being washed away and other flood-related equipment damage. Crews responded as quickly and as safely as possible and managed to restore most of the weekend’s outages within a few hours.
“Additionally, we extend a huge thank you to area first responders, as well as town, county and state organizations who were also out there around the clock this weekend offering support and working to keep our community members safe.”
Natural gas pipeline
On Friday, Oct. 23, it was announced the flooding had damaged an Xcel Energy main line in the area of Colo. 151.
Black Hills Energy Public Affairs Manager Jason Auslander spoke during the joint work session held by the Pagosa Springs Town Council and Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Monday, Oct. 26, providing an update on the company’s natural gas system that supplies natural gas to residents in Archuleta County.
He explained that following the flooding event, the system was “stabilized,” and that compressed natural gas tankers were brought in and are being staged in Pagosa Springs.
He mentioned that more trailers are on the way, “just to make sure that we can keep the system properly pressurized” and prevent losing any customers over the next week with colder temperatures on the way.
“This is going to have to be maintained for a while,” he said, explaining the damage along Colo. 151 impacted the natural gas system supplying Archuleta County.
Auslander noted that the Colorado National Guard has a team of engineers on hand to help assess the situation.
He noted that “ a lot of resources” are being thrown at this, and Black Hills is asking everyone to be “judicious” with natural gas use.
“This could be an extended sort of situation,” he said.
Auslander also spoke during a community meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27, explaining that Xcel Energy “suffered a pipeline rupture.”
He explained that it was bringing “most of the gas” that comes into Pagosa Springs.
“The system in the state was recalibrated to keep the pressure available to everybody when they turn on their heaters,” he said.
He explained that Black Hills has brought in trailers and is injecting compressed natural gas into the system “to keep that pressure up.”
He noted the only customers lost in Pagosa so far are residents along the river who had meters covered by water.
Auslander explained that extra crews and gas supply is being brought in to keep the system full “and to do everything we can to keep the system steady.”
He stressed again that customers should be as “judicious as possible” with natural gas use.
For more information and updates on the situation from Black Hills Energy, visit www.blackhillsenergy.com/news/pagosa-springs-flooding.
Pagosa Springs Medical Center
While Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC) remains open, the Upper San Juan Health Service District — which operates PSMC and PSMC Emergency Medical Services (EMS) — sustained damage to portions of its facilities.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, PSMC Chief Administrative Officer Ann Bruzzese informed The SUN the district provided the state with a preliminary estimate of potential damages in the amount of $4.1 million.
She notes PSMC will still “have a lot of assessment regarding issues to our HVAC units (which are very expensive).”
Known damage, she explains, includes:
• Hospital/clinic building: roof leaks and associated damage.
“We had at least one rooftop HVAC unit with substantial water that filled some duct work in the building,” she notes.
• CORE building: substantial water damage to the crawl space, building supports and the HVAC unit.
• The San Juan Street EMS station: Bruzzese notes the preliminary report from the architect is that the district will have to make changes to the building foundation as a result of this flooding.
• EMS Station on North Pagosa Boulevard: Water issues with the roof, siding and crawl space.
“Like most people, we have mud and debris removal, landscaping repair and culvert clean-out,” she adds.
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