ROSWELL, N.M. – A southeastern New Mexico community began to dry out Monday after historic rainfall over the weekend produced severe flooding that left at least two people dead and hundreds stranded on rooftops.
Waterlogged vehicles were still submerged along some city streets in Roswell, while others were seen smashed along bridge supports and tossed up against trees and power poles after being swept away by the floodwaters on Saturday and Sunday.
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All the standing water and mangled masses of twisted guardrails and splintered wood were scenes unfamiliar for the community. Surrounded by usually dusty plains and dairy farms, Roswell isn’t famous for any notable rainfall but rather for being the spot where a spacecraft purportedly crashed in 1947.
Less than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain usually falls in Roswell an average year, but forecasters with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said Monday that the weekend deluge was spurred by an upper-level low pressure system that was parked over Arizona.
“So the moisture just kept funneling and funneling and funneling up across eastern New Mexico,” meteorologist Jennifer Shoemake said. “They got multiple days of heavy rainfall and severe weather in that area because that storm system was just not moving.”
More than 300 people were rescued by the New Mexico National Guard, with 38 of those taken to hospitals for treatment of undisclosed injuries. New Mexico State Police said two people died as a result of the flash flood, but information on the victims or the circumstances of their deaths wasn’t immediately released.
Even Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington posted a video on social media in which he was standing on top of his vehicle surrounded by water. Herrington said he had to go to the roof of his vehicle when it and several other vehicles became stranded in water that rose up to the windows.
At the civic center, a birthday party was derailed Saturday when floodwaters began pouring onto the dance floor. At first, some people tried to keep dancing while Moises Torres and his band, La Fuerza Del Bravo, played on.
“It looked like we were going down like the Titanic,” he told The Associated Press.
As the water continued to rise, the guests rushed to the roof. Torres said he was hesitant to leave his band equipment behind, but as soon as the water reached the top of the stage, the band joined the party guests. Torres captured videos from the roof of floating cars in the rushing floodwaters.
“The water was dragging everything that was in the way,” he said.
The group huddled in the cold on the roof for several hours as the rain continued through the night, Torres said.
Rescue crews arrived around daybreak Sunday as the water receded. The group descended from the roof to find the civic center filled with mud.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared an emergency Monday in response to the flooding, clearing the way for $1 million in state funding to bolster relief efforts. She met with city officials who were charting the path for cleanup and recovery.
Roswell City Councilor Juliana Halvorson told the AP that despite warnings Saturday morning for the potential for severe weather later that day, no one was expecting the subsequent flooding. She has surveyed much of the damaged and noted that many homeowners don’t have flood insurance.
“There’s too much devastation to see in one day,” she said. “Some homes still have 4 or 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) of water or more. The water picked up cars and chunks of concrete, and those things are so heavy.”
Authorities were forced to close roads leading to and from the city on Sunday. Water levels have since receded in many areas.
Forecasters said 5.78 inches (about 14.7 centimeters) of rain fell on Roswell on Saturday, breaking the city’s previous daily record of 5.65 inches (about 14.6 centimeters) set on Nov. 1, 1901. Some areas surrounding Roswell received around 9 inches (22.9 centimeters) of rain in a matter of hours, according to the National Weather Service.
“It was a storm that just kept building and building south of town,” City Councilor Edward “Ed” Heldenbrand said. “It was never anticipated that it would rain for five hours.”
He spent part of Monday morning driving around to check on some property he owns.
“Roads damaged. Bridges damaged. Fences down. Vehicles piled up everywhere. A cargo container overturned next to car,” he said. “An unbelievable picture of destruction.”
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Berry reported from Phoenix. AP journalist Beatrice Dupuy contributed from New York.