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Now this is monsoon season

After the rain comes the mud

The hard rain Monday that hit already-saturated ground caused the inevitable mudslide.

In this instance, it occurred at the intersection of North College Drive and Florida Road.

“Some loose soil turned into mud, with 4 to 6 inches on the road in the area,” said Roy Petersen, the director of city operations, Monday night. “We got the road open, and the crew will go in (today) and finish cleaning it up.”

There were reports of flooding on the road along Camino del Rio and near the intersection of Florida and Holly Avenue.

“Typically, we see some of that,” Petersen said. “A little bit of debris can clog a storm drain. The crews will go out with a loader tomorrow to clear that up, too.”

It may be just in time.

Ellen Heffernan, a meteorologist with the Grand Junction office of the National Weather Service, said the Durango area can expect more of the same today.

“There’s more moisture coming up for you,” she said. “You also have another flash-flood watch from noon to midnight in both the Durango and Pagosa Springs areas.”

Thunderstorms and showers are expected to continue through the week, with the weather drying up some by the weekend, Heffernan said.

In other road news, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will close Hermosa Park Road (Forest Road 578) just above Cayton Campground on the Dolores River side of Bolam Pass from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 5 to repair a 30-foot-long section of the road damaged by a landslide.

During the closure, drivers will be able to drive up to Bolam Pass from Hermosa Park, but they will not be able to go all the way down to U.S. Highway 145.

Until the road is repaired, drivers should use caution at the damaged section because vehicles have to straddle a roadside ditch to cross.

abutler@durangoherald.com



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