Erosion is happening before our eyes. I took pictures on June 21 to remember this moment that is now commonplace worldwide, people meeting extreme weather at home — in our case, Castle Valley, Utah. Add other pictures of most of Grand County flooding, including downtown Moab and you have a more complete picture of the week we had two flash floods within days of each other.
Highway 124, locally known as the “River Road,” looked like the first day of creation as dozens and dozens of pink sediment-laden waterfalls were cascading off red rock cliffs reaching the Colorado River in seconds. I didn’t know there could be that much free falling water in the desert in times of drought. San Juan County also experienced violent flash floods that reshaped and redistributed sand and land within the Valley of the Gods that no god of flesh or stone could control.
Brooke, my husband, and I stood on the berm that has protected our house from these seasonal floods watching in awe the velocity and force of Placer Creek’s rushing red water, now two torrents rerouted by the contours of the land like a band of wild horses split in two, galloping down the west and east sides of our home. It was a terrible beauty, adding a punishing depth to my own definition of awe. (Terry Tempest Williams) A flash flood in Castle Valley on June 21, 2024.
The roar of the water was deeper than sound, it was a bodily pounding of rolling rocks and collapsing walls of washes, now, cutting and clogging arroyos .