Frozen treats, cold showers and lots of ice; Florida zoo works to protect animals from summer heat

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Malayan tigers and Aldabra tortoises are native to hot and humid lands, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy a frozen treat on a hot Florida summer day.

Temperatures in South Florida this month have reached the upper 90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) with humidity reaching 70%, combining for “feels like” temperatures regularly exceeding 100 F (38 C).

Staff at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool. Zookeepers throw large piles of ice into the black bear enclosure for the animals to wallow in, chilling their pool to 74 F (23 C). The otters get ice blocks and frozen fish tossed into their water for playing and eating.

Tigers feast on more ingenious treats: They get frozen cow bones crammed into blocks of ice, along with a side of frozen goat milk. The big cats also like to swim.

Giant tortoises, native to the islands of the Indian Ocean, enjoy cool showers from a hose, which they can feel through their shells.

“Even though all of our animals are acclimatized to the South Florida weather, they look for ways to cool off during the hot days, just like we do,” said Mike Terrell, the zoo's curator of animal experiences. “All of our animals that we have here at the zoo were specifically chosen because they’re used to warm climates. And so they’re totally happy in a high, high heat, high humidity environment. ”

The zoo's guests love to watch the animals cool down and children press their faces up against the glass for a better look, Terrell said.

“We absolutely love is nose prints,” Terrell said.

Figuring out what cooling activities the animals enjoy requires a bit of trial and error, he said.

“They really tell us what they like," Terrell said. "We can take our best guess, but if we’re giving them something that they don’t like or they’re not interacting with, we’re not going to continue to give it to them.”

Associated Press writer Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.

A flamingo stands in the shade at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

An employee wears a t-shirt reading Saving Wildlife in Wild Places at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Children on a field trip from summer camp look at an exhibit at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Mike Terrell, curator of animal experiences, sprays an Aldabra tortoise with cool water at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Aldabra tortoises get sprayed with cool water at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A black bear named Lewis eats an apple while in a cool pool of water at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A black bear named Clark lies on a pile of crushed ice at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A Malayan tiger named Api carries a cow bone in a block of ice at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A Malayan tiger named Api licks on a frozen cube of goat milk next to a cow bone in a block of ice at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Sherry Apostolopoulos, left, looks at an exhibit of river otters with her granddaughter Raelyn, right, at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A river otter chews on a block of ice with smelt at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A river otter chews on a block of ice with smelt at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A river otter holds a block of ice with smelt at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A river otter holds a block of ice with smelt at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society Thursday, July 18, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. The staff at the zoo use a variety of techniques to keep their animals cool during the hot summer months. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Severe flooding in the Four Corners region Friday led to rescues — some from rooftops — and impassable roads, with some residents told to evacuate low-lying areas of Colorado and New Mexico and others urged to stay where they are until water levels drop.

The flooding followed two months of heavy rains that ended a summer drought in the region where the boundaries of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Since Wednesday, a total of 4 inches (10 centimeters) had fallen in the already saturated area, with even more rain forecast for the weekend.

Hundreds of people along the San Juan River in the biggest city in the area, Farmington, New Mexico, were told to evacuate. Downstream, residents of the vast Navajo Nation braced for floodwaters not expected to peak until late Friday or early Saturday.

“Do not wait to make your evacuations. Make your preparations for yourselves, your families, as well as your animals,” Navajo Nation Deputy Police Chief Donnie Kee urged during a news conference.

The crisis capped a week of severe weather in which rain swamped dozens of homes in Utah and tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees onto houses and downed power lines in Arizona.

Rescuers used New Mexico National Guard boats, helicopters and amphibious vehicles Thursday night and into Friday to try to reach stranded residents, San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley said.

“We’re picking people off of roofs and pulling people out of houses that have 3 or 4 feet (1-1.5 meters) of water in them, and there’s more water coming,” Neeley said.

Rains stopped — at least temporarily — but rivers were still rising.

“This is serious. We’re still sending deputies as I speak to get people out of their homes right now. In fact, our sheriff is damn near going to lose his home today,” Neeley said.

Some 600 Farmington households were told to evacuate, city spokesperson Gina Intoppa said.

Still higher water was on the way via the Animas River, a San Juan tributary that also flows south from rain-soaked Colorado, Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said in the news conference.

“People are not believing that it’s going to be as bad as it is. But you can see the water flow coming, you can see the surge coming,” Hebbe said, calling it a “once in a generation” event.

In southern Colorado, flooding was even worse than forecast and a full 3 feet (1 meter) higher than a 100-year flood on the San Juan River only a year ago. Rainfall topped 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) in the Pagosa Springs area of south-central Colorado, according to Frank Pereira, a National Weather Service forecaster in College Park, Maryland.

Colorado National Guard rescuers succeeded Friday in using a helicopter to hoist two people and their three dogs to safety from a partially submerged recreational vehicle. They had driven onto a flooded road while trying to escape the high water and got washed into a river, Archuleta County sheriff's officials said.

Authorities were assessing who else needed help, including many whose homes weren’t flooded but were cut off by floodwaters.

Sheriff Mike Le Roux said the amount of water was “unprecedented” and had caused a lot of damage, but he was not aware of any deaths or serious injuries.

Evacuees included the wife and three children of Tyler Scartaccini, who stayed behind to keep an eye on their property as water reached their porch and into their garages.

“I felt like we were in a very safe place and now I don’t feel that so much,” Scartaccini said.

In nearby Rio Grande County, trailers at a campground were surrounded by water. Trucks were partially submerged in other areas.

Colorado roads closed due to runoff damage included U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray, a scenic, high-elevation route known as the “Million Dollar Highway.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis had declared a disaster emergency in 11 counties.

In the city of Hurricane in far southwestern Utah, a shipping container drifting down a street gave way Friday to a mess of mud and debris to be cleaned up as people who had evacuated earlier in the week returned home.

The risk shifted to Utah's southeast, where streams ran fast and high. Flood watches were in effect into the weekend, said Alex DeSmet, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Salt Lake City.

Still, the Four Corners region could get more heavy rain this weekend, with up to half an inch (1 centimeter) forecast to fall in northwestern New Mexico.

While parts of the Southwest are rocky with little vegetation and are naturally prone to flash flooding, the recent rains had saturated the ground and made widespread flooding more likely. The moisture was from the remnants of Pacific tropical systems that had come ashore, forecasters said.

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, and Wufei Yu and Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed to this story.

Tree debris obstructs part of a street as storms caused damage at a local apartment complex, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Floodwaters surround trailers at the Fun Valley Family Resort campground and RV part in South Fork, Colo., early Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (South Fork Fire Rescue via AP)

Pickup trucks are submerged along Highway 160 in South Fork, Colo., on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (South Fork Fire Rescue via AP)