Uninsured Colorado flood victim concerned about cleanup and rebuilding costs

Associated Press · Brittany Peterson, Mead Gruver · 2026-11-06 05:03 UTC

Matthew Martinez has lived nearly all his 60 years on a piece of property on the Navajo River and never saw severe flooding until now. In the past two weeks, the Navajo River surged twice through his home and outbuildings in far southwestern Colorado. Martinez has been out of town for knee surgery. Getting back through the mud required a four-wheel-drive and patience. He estimates $200,000 in damage and says he has never been eligible for flood insurance because he lives so close to the river. Now he worries that things will “never be normal again.”

Uninsured and flooded out, a Colorado man worries if life will be normal again

EDITH, Colo. (AP) — Matthew Martinez has lived nearly all of his 60 years in a canyon on the Navajo River and never saw severe floods.

Then twice over the last two weeks the river surged through his home and outbuildings in far southwestern Colorado, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the resort town of Pagosa Springs. Now he’s missing a horse, his barn is damaged and the river swallowed a corral. The house is strewn with mud. His tools washed downstream.

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