Ruidoso receives another round of heavy rain, flooding on Wednesday

Jul. 10—Some Ruidoso residents said Wednesday afternoon's flooding was worse than Tuesday's, adding misery to people who had just been able to get back to their homes and rebuild after devastating wildfires.

Just as they were starting a return to some kind of normalcy, the rains came and with it flooding, which caused people to evacuate again this week.

"(U.S.) Highway 70 is completely under water," Scorpion Tattoos co-owner Logan Fleharty said Wednesday.

Village of Ruidoso spokeswoman Kerry Gladden said U.S. 70 from Walmart to Casino Apache Travel Center was shut down Wednesday afternoon, and "significant rain" fell over burn scars from the Salt Fire. According to the National Weather Service, rainfall that would normally be absorbed will run off extremely quickly after a wildfire, as burned soil can be as water repellent as pavement. As a result, much less rainfall is required to produce a flash flood.

EJ Leather Works owner Edward Jeremias said other parts of the village like Two Rivers Park and Mechem Drive (N.M. 48) received more flooding on Wednesday.

The "surge of water" was stronger, he said.

According to the National Weather Service of Albuquerque, the Ruidoso area received 1-2 1/2 inches of precipitation as of 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Lincoln County emergency management specialist Michael Scales said the storm came from two sides — U.S. 70, where it started, and by Upper Canyon and Brady Canyon.

"We're assessing how much damage occurred from that," he said.

Scales said Upper Canyon will continue to be evacuated until "we get the debris out of the way and make it safe for folks to get back in."

No casualties were reported, but there were four rescues made, he said. The New Mexico National Guard said on social media that members of the 920th Engineer Company evacuated stranded residents.

On Tuesday, the village evacuated about 125 people due to flooding, Mayor Lynn Crawford said in an interview. People were able to go back to their homes Wednesday morning before having to evacuate again due to the threat of more rain and flooding, he said.

"It's still dangerous," Crawford said. "We are fighting a multifaceted fronted battle here. We've had the fire, the flood, both big tragedies, and the flood is continuing on.

"We still have some folks that want to stay, and I'm just telling you, 'It's not good and you can't get up there to go look right now, people. You'll just have to take me for my word that it's not good. It's not good.'"

In anticipation of Wednesday's storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it temporarily closed its disaster recovery centers in Ruidoso and the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

The federal government also approved Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's request to implement Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits to residents affected by the South Fork and Salt fires.

To qualify, residents must have experienced damage or destruction to their homes or belongings, a loss in income, or unreimbursed disaster-related expenses due to the disaster. Eligible households will receive a month of benefits to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or select online retailers.

One person who may be eligible is Christopher Reed, who lost his home in the South Fork Fire, the second of the two wildfires that started in the area last month. He said some of the debris from his Lincoln County home washed down the road.

"I'm trying to remind myself to stay positive and have a good outlook on it," Reed said.

He said he still plans to rebuild, though there will be more people looking to go to the village's only lumberyard to do the same.

"It's going to be an ongoing process," Reed said.