Crews pick up debris carried down the Rio Ruidoso to prevent further blockages and worsen flooding on July 10, 2024. Debris removal will pick up during a respite from the monsoon rains this week, officials said.(Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
Even though flooding has briefly let up, the Village of Ruidoso and surrounding areas continue to face significant impacts to daily life from floods late last week, including water and sewer outages; impassable roads; and the rescue of three people trapped in their cars.
Between July 30 and Aug. 1, the National Weather Service compiled 21 impact reports regarding flash floods and debris flows in Lincoln County. That included several overrun bridges, a car stuck in the mud and a flooded horse tunnel, in addition to the water rescues.
While the village’s Public Works Department “has been working around the clock to restore services after each flood event, we face the ongoing challenge of new flood events that can undo repair progress and create additional damage to our infrastructure,” officials posted on Facebook.
Officials called on residents to conserve water and said they were prioritizing critical water systems as they continue to deal with repeated floods and debris flows that “are testing our infrastructure in ways we haven’t experienced before.”
Potable water is available at Wingfield Park from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to a village Facebook post Monday morning. Bottled water is also available at the parking lot of the Eastern New Mexico University-Ruidoso branch.
Forecasts predict a drier week and a welcome break from the monsoon rains causing continued flooding in the burn scars around Ruidoso.
“We’re looking forward to a few days to dry out, for sure,” Village of Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford told Source NM on Friday.
Conditions will be noticeably drier and hotter around the state until early next week, according to Randall Hergert, a forecaster at the Albuquerque office National Weather Service.
“The tap of moisture has been turned off, essentially,” Hergert said, adding that the pattern of afternoon rains is expected to return this weekend and early into next week.
Crawford said the focus will be on debris removal and trying to deepen the riverbeds of the Rio Ruidoso, as repeated floods have deposited as much as nine feet of silt in places.
“That makes the riverbed shallower, that means water is going wider, grabbing more structures, more homes, more businesses,” he said. “That’s why we work so hard to get that debris cleared out.”
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This post was originally authored and published by Danielle Prokop, Patrick Lohmann from via RSS Feed. to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
