Cortez sites collect supplies for San Juan River flood victims

Cortez businesses, a food pantry and volunteers are collecting supplies this week for families flooded out along the San Juan River in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

Drop-off points are open at the Cortez Livestock Auction, Osprey Packs, Good Sam’s Food Pantry and TruWest CDJR. The auction’s drop-off ends at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, so check the hours below before loading up.

The donations are headed to Navajo Nation communities including Aneth, Montezuma Creek, Shiprock and the Sweetwater area, and to the town of Bluff. Organizers say the need is shifting from emergency supplies to recovery, with more rain in the forecast.

Where to drop off in Cortez

None of the sites is in Dolores or Mancos, as far as residents in the What’s Up group could tell.

• Cortez Livestock Auction, 12129 U.S. 491, 970-565-3456. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 27-28, which the auction calls its initial drop-off days. It takes water, toiletries, nonperishable food, pet food, hay, jackets, blankets, tarps, irrigation boots, bed mats, baby supplies, gloves and beanies. Hay is the top ask.
• Osprey Packs, 800 N. Park St. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Thursday, Oct. 29. It takes blankets, bed mats, hand warmers, irrigation boots, jackets, beanies, storage totes, tarps, bungee cords, pet food and kennels.
• Good Sam’s Food Pantry, 30 N. Beech St., 970-565-6424. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, or by appointment. Volunteers truck the supplies to the MOD donation center at the Kirk Center in Shiprock and to mutual aid groups in Utah.
• TruWest CDJR, 333 S. Broadway. Call ahead for hours. Its trucks leave for Aneth, Montezuma Creek and Bluff on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Nov. 3. TruWest Auto Outlet in Durango is also collecting.

Closer to the flooding, the Aneth Chapter House takes donations 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, the San Juan Record reported. The Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management is collecting food, clothing, baby and hygiene items at the Division of Transportation complex, 16 Old Coal Mine Road in Tse Bonito, KRQE reported.

San Juan United Way in Farmington has paused item donations and is asking for money instead.

What’s needed most

The needs lists posted by the auction, Osprey, the Shiprock donation center and the Aneth Chapter House overlap heavily. Together they ask for:

• Water and food: bottled water, canned meat and other nonperishable food
• Warmth: blankets, bed mats, air mattresses, jackets, beanies, winter gloves, hand warmers, thermal clothing and firewood
• Clothing: men’s 3XL and larger clothes and shoes, underwear and adult socks
• Light and power: candles, batteries, flashlights and solar lights
• Cleanup: bleach, mops, buckets, trash bags, work gloves, rubber or irrigation boots, N95 masks and tarps
• Babies: diapers, wipes and formula
• Hygiene: toilet paper, toiletries, cleaning supplies and foot powder
• Animals: hay, salt blocks, dog and cat food, kennels, leashes and livestock water containers
• Fuel: gift cards for diesel to run heavy equipment

As of Oct. 26, the Shiprock donation center marked candles, batteries, flashlights, solar lights, bottled water, hay, folding tables, diapers, large men’s clothing, socks, thermal wear and firewood as top priorities.

Giving money

Two established funds are taking cash for flood relief.

• San Juan United Way runs the Northwest New Mexico Communities Flood Relief & Recovery Fund. It covers Farmington, Bloomfield, Aztec, Kirtland, Shiprock and nearby Navajo communities. The United Way says all of the money stays local. Donations are also taken at any Four Corners Community Bank branch.
• Bluff Community Foundation is raising money for Bluff-area flood relief, for families in Bluff and neighboring southeast Utah communities.

Kirbi Foster, who is organizing the Good Sam’s collection, said she can put donors in touch with verified organizers on the ground who accept direct payments. Anyone giving through a payment app should confirm who will receive the money.

If you were affected

• Bluff area: fill out the Bluff Community Foundation’s relief request form, linked from its relief page.
• Navajo Nation: the Emergency Operations Center is at 505-422-6597, the Navajo Times reported.
• San Juan County, New Mexico: dial 211 for help with services or finding family members.
• Horse owners and small rescues: Fleet of Angels is offering emergency micro-grants for flood recovery in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, according to a post shared by the Cortez Livestock Auction. Applications are online.

What organizers and neighbors are saying

The Cortez Livestock Auction said it started its drive because Navajo families are part of the sale barn’s community. They buy and sell there, and many are friends or family of the staff. “These neighbors work alongside us,” the auction wrote on Facebook.

After its first collection day Tuesday, the auction called the response a strong start but said it still needs hay. It said the stories it is hearing about livestock in the flood zone are hard to hear.

Foster said in a Tuesday update that volunteers will keep working with mutual aid groups in Utah and New Mexico as the emergency turns to recovery. In a Monday post, Foster said volunteers delivered a truck and trailer of supplies to the MOD donation center in Shiprock on Sunday night. They plan more trips if donations keep coming in.

Dani St, who first planned her own supply run to the Sweetwater area, sent donors to the auction instead. She said the auction has bigger trucks and more resources than she and one other volunteer could manage. She said roads and bridges there are washed out and residents are running low on supplies.

When Jan Barbas asked how supplies could reach people who can’t get out, Dani St said her group had planned to meet residents at the nearest open crossing. In another thread, Terry Sano asked whether a central cash fund would save volunteers the work of sorting goods.

Rapheal White, who posted that his family was safe after the flooding, told friends the auction’s drive was a trustworthy place to give. Chris Cheadle, an administrator of the What’s Up group, posted video from a flight over the flooded river near Bluff on Tuesday morning.

The flood

The San Juan River near Bluff reached about 26 feet Monday morning, according to provisional U.S. Geological Survey gauge readings. Flood stage there is 23 feet. The record is 32 feet, set in 1927, KUTV reported.

The Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management ordered about 150 people out of Montezuma Creek and Aneth late Saturday, the Deseret News reported. Shelters opened at Aneth Community School and at San Juan High School in Blanding. Bluff was evacuated too, and its order was lifted early Monday.

Bluff Mayor Josh Ewing counted 17 homes and five businesses damaged in his town of about 250 since Friday, the Associated Press reported.

Flooding breached the wastewater lagoons in Montezuma Creek. The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is telling people to keep themselves, pets and livestock out of the river and floodwater downstream, the San Juan Record reported.

Upstream, New Mexico has a federal emergency declaration covering four counties and five tribal nations, according to a Tuesday emergency management briefing. Another storm is expected to reach the region starting Friday, the Colorado Sun reported.

This story draws on posts and comments in The Original What’s Up? Dolores, Mancos, Cortez! Facebook group and on the Cortez Livestock Auction’s Facebook page, Oct. 26-28.