Flooding across New Mexico prompted state officials Wednesday to release up to $3.75 million in emergency funds aimed at helping communities respond to and prevent damage.
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is out of state, issued five executive orders,each authorizing $750,000, for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“Communities across New Mexico need help staving off these torrential floodwaters, and they need it now,” Morales said in a statement Wednesday.
Above average late-monsoon moisture has caused widespread floods. Over the last week, a National Weather Service database shows more than 80 reports of flood events in 14 counties, particularly those in southern New Mexico.
Flooding made numerous roads across the region impassable and even temporarily stranded a school bus in Lincoln County, according to the NWS database. Tuesday evening, Doña Ana County temporarily evacuated Rincon, Salem & Garfield in response to flooding and concerns about McLeod Dam. In Santa Fe County, officials set up a phone number for residents stranded due to closed roads.
Water also apparently breached the main gas line in Hatch, prompting the local police department to issue a warning on social media Wednesday afternoon not to “put gas” at pumps in the southern New Mexico town.
“The main gasoline line has been breached by water,” thepolice department wrote. “The gasoline is now mostly water and will damage your vehicle.”
A spokesperson for the Hatch Police Department did not immediately respond to Source NM’s request for further comment Wednesday.
Elsewhere, drainage pumps in Luna County were overwhelmed. Up to two feet of flowing water was reported in Socorro County; and “curb-to-curb” street flooding was reported in Artesia, according to the NWS database.
The governor’s office said the floods have damaged public infrastructure, disrupted transportation routes and threatened homes and businesses.
Officials noted that, with more rain in the forecast, local emergency response agencies might become overwhelmed, which is why the state funds are necessary.
As of publication Wednesday afternoon, NWS forecasters had issued a “flood watch” for most of northern New Mexico, warning that risks of additional flooding persist through midnight Wednesday due to a surge of moisture that will fall on “already rain-soaked soil” and potentially cause additional floods.
The NWS also issuedflood warnings through 6 p.m. Wednesday for parts of San Miguel, Santa Fe and Lincoln counties.
The executive orders do not specify exactly what the funding will be used for but notes that it “may” be used to provide people with shelter, healthcare, food and transportation.
“The State of New Mexico stands with every county, city and village working around the clock to keep their neighbors safe, and we are bringing every resource to the effort,” Morales said.
Leah March, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, did not immediately respond to Source NM’s question about Lujan Grisham’s whereabouts, but she was scheduled to speak in Washington, D.C., on Thursday alongside Center For American Progress CEO Neera Tanden in a conversation about tackling the “biggest challenges facing America today, like healthcare, childcare, and housing access,” according to a news release.
