Last week’s historic flooding led to days of rescues of individuals stranded throughout the county, beginning with a dramatic helicopter rescue on Friday, Oct. 23, of a local couple.
That couple, Hank and Stacey Wills, explained they knew the storm was coming, but had heard it would be a little lower than last year’s flood, which was survivable and did not damage their house.
“We were maybe a little braver than we should have been, obviously,” Hank Wills said.
He explained they put sandbags out and worked to protect their structures, then waking up at 4 a.m. to do more.
As the day went on, he noted, they worked to get some of their animals out with the help of his parents.
Hank Wills noted he was unaware of when the peak was supposed to hit, but as the evening went on, the water started going over the sandbag wall, but they thought they could still make it and were monitoring river levels.
But, he noted, with heavy rain falling, the water rose faster and they decided it was time to leave.
He noted his mother, who was there helping, was almost washed down, but was able to get up.
He noted that, when he tried to cross in their RV, water got into the intake and the engine stalled, with that being around 10:30 p.m.
He noted he had his parents go call a tow truck, with none of the town companies able to make it.
Stacey Wills noted the water was still below the headlights.
Hank Wills explained he was unaware of the closures in town until Deputy Craig Tamburelli with Archuleta County showed up around 2:15 a.m.
Tamburelli indicated he arrived on scene at the county road and Colo. 151 and saw an RV submerged, with whitewater hitting the windshield.
He immediately retrieved a throw back and threw a rope to the RV, which was 20-25 feet away.
He noted he anchored the rope and called his commander, with Upper San Juan Search and Rescue (USJSAR) paged to come help.
Tamburelli noted the river was also undercutting the RV, causing it to tip, which he noted was concerning.
“In a blink of a flash, the RV just swept away,” Tamburelli said, noting he saw the RV tip as it went down.
Tamburelli went back to his patrol vehicle and moved downstream to find them, but the county roads were washed out.
By then, USJSAR was on scene.
He noted they went back to Darcie Place and the east side of County Road 339 to try to intercept them, and was able to spot them.
As they were going down the stream, Wills said he was praying it would catch, knowing if the RV kept taking on water, it would only be so long.
As he was praying, he said, the RV caught a rock or something so hard it ripped out the axle.
That lurched the RV out of the main channel, he said.
“It smashed into, of all places, our own fence,” Hank Wills said.
Wills noted the RV had hit something and turned upright.
Stacey Wills explained they made sure the pets were safe and worked to make themselves “cozy for a while.”
Hank Wills said he worked to signal to vehicles.
A swiftwater rescue team was paged out — an attempt that was also unsuccessful due to safety concerns.
He noted the continued to assess access spots, with Deputy Director Stanley Okazaki mobilizing the drone with thermal imaging when he came on duty at 6 a.m.
After it was determined that the Wills were OK, the decision was made to hold off until a Black Hawk with a hoist could be utilized.
That took about three hours, Okazaki said, and they were able to communicate with the Wills via the drone to keep them updated.
The Wills, their cats and their dogs were lifted via harness to the helicopter.
The Wills arrived safely to Stevens Field Airport at about 1 p.m.
The Wills offered thanks, with Stacey Wills noting they know God and Christ were there.
“You deserve a lot more credit ... than you’ll ever get,” she said of the deputies.
The Wills were two of 40 people the Colorado National Guard had rescued as of Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 28.
Since being activated for flooding in southwest Colorado, the Colorado National Guard (CONG) has helped save 40 people, 16 dogs and a large number of cats trapped by flood waters that washed out roads according to the organization.
CONG notes in a press release that, per Gov. Jared Polis’ verbal declaration of disaster emergency, more than 100 CONG members mobilized in support of Archuleta County authorities, providing aviation and ground search and rescue assistance.
CONG members are also assisting with supply delivery in support of civilian efforts in southwest Archuleta County and conducting “knock and talks” and route reconnaissance to ensure people are safe, according to the press release.
“When disaster strikes our communities, our immediate priority is to help save lives and reduce suffering, which means we protect both people and their beloved animals,” said Director of Joint Staff U.S. Army Brig. Gen. William DiProfio. “Working side-by-side with local emergency responders, our soldiers and airmen have proven once again that we stand ready to support whenever and wherever we are called.”
Approximately 20 CONG members formed Task Force Aviation, operating, maintaining and refueling two assigned helicopters: a hoist-equipped UH-60 Black Hawk and LUH-72 Lakota for aerial search and rescue. This task force is operating out of Pagosa Springs.
More than 80 additional personnel and 30 tactical vehicles formed Task Force Ground Search and Rescue to support the incident command in flood-affected areas.
The use of CONG forces in a support role relieves local first responders actively responding to calls in the community, the press release notes.
Incident Commander Trainee Thad McKain of the Colorado Incident Management Team indicated Wednesday, Oct. 28, that rescues, welfare checks and supply drops were still occurring.
On top of that, he noted, there were multiple missions going on, with seven National Guard ground crews out on missions as of mid-morning, as well as air resources.
“We are still doing rescues and extrications,” he said. “We have people who have I think finally hit that point and are ready to come out. We have been strongly reminding people, especially — we are running into a couple of issues — we do have a couple of residents who think that the National Guard is their version of Walmart.”
McKain outlined that, over the next couple of days, crews had some missions to get insulin and more fuel and other items to people.
“We are also at that point that we have to start scaling some of this back. The National Guard is not going to be here for the winter,” he said, adding they’re tired and want to go home to their families.
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