Flooding and broken levees along a southern Colorado creek forced mandatory evacuations in La Plata County north of Vallecito Reservoir on Saturday morning.

The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District ordered immediate evacuations just after 10 a.m. for people living near Vallecito Creek after water began breaching the west side of the creek.

La Plata County officials set up a shelter at Bayfield High School, 800 County Road 501, for people who evacuated.

An online evacuation map from La Plata County shows mandatory evacuations along the creek, from Safley Road to the north and Mushroom Lane to the south.

Heavy rain in recent days pushed Vallecito Creek into high spring run-off conditions, with stream gauges recording 1,040 cubic feet per second on Friday night with the heaviest

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