Weather experts in New Mexico are warning that much of the southwestern U.S. state faces two more days of elevated chances of dangerous floodsafter the rains recorded over the weekend caused severe damage and led to the rescue of at least a hundred victims trapped in the water.
With the rains, the problem of landslides in previously uninhabited areas worsens. devastated by forest firesin the absence of forests, the probability of flooding and landslides increases, according to experts.
Much of central New Mexico remained under a storm and flood watch as of Tuesday, with major flooding in heavily populated areas such as Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Ruidoso.
Meteorologist Daniel Porter, head of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque, said very few parts of the state are immune to flooding.
“Very few parts of the state have been immune to the impacts (…) Unfortunately, the threat is likely to remain very high for the next few days, at least through Wednesday,” he said.
Scorched lands
The expert said that residents of that region would have a break in risk on Thursday, Independence Day, but another cycle of rain would be developing for the next weekend.
The downpours have caused the most damage in areas of New Mexico where wildfires have stripped mountainsides of trees, brush and grass, including in northern New Mexico, where a historic fire swept through numerous communities in 2022, and in the town of Ruidoso, where residents were forced to flee rapidly advancing flames just weeks ago.
Hydrologist Andrew Mangham, a weather service expert, told the Associated Press that when assessing the environmental impacts of the fires and now the effect of the storms on the ground, “some things just take your breath away.”
The damage observed, he added, is “truly shocking” when looking around where there is evidence of “absolutely complete devastation,” especially in areas more recently affected by fires and now floods, such as Ruidoso.
[Con informes de The Associated Press]
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