Heavy rains flood areas of San Miguel County

Jul. 3—For many in the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire zone, the nightmare never seems to end.

Now, it's the flooding.

"They've gone from one disaster to another," said Dolores Garcia, whose parents live on a ranch in Rociada. "It's just trauma after trauma."

Officials said up to 6 feet of water swept through portions of San Miguel County on Friday afternoon after heavy rain brought flooding to communities in the fire's burn scar.

The current was strong enough to sweep cars into ditches and make roads impassable.

San Miguel County Deputy Manager Jesus Romero said some of the flooded areas spanned more than 100 yards.

"I've never seen that happen in my life," Romero said in a phone interview on Saturday.

Flash flood warnings were in place through much of Saturday throughout the 600-square-mile burn scar, with a variety of communities on notice for a continued flooding threat. Many were in the same places that experienced significant damage during the fire, which started April.

N.M. 65 at mile marker 15 was closed, and Romero said some roads were inundated after Friday's flood.

"We did get reports of certain areas that were coming up the hillsides, where the road was getting washed out, and until that water stops, there's nothing that we can do to address that," Romero said.

No injuries were reported as of Saturday afternoon, but areas from Mora south through the burn scar were on alert for more flooding.

Garcia said she helped her parents place sandbags around their property all day.

"It was one of the areas that burned early in the fire and burned very hot," Garcia said. "It was very evident in how quickly things began to flow yesterday when we got the downpour.

"The whole path of the water was black. The arroyos are black with mud and debris."

She said the mud and debris spans across multiple properties and has taken down fences.

Officials expect more rains throughout the Fourth of July weekend, with a 70 percent chance of rain on Sunday and Monday. The chance of rain is expected to drop to 60 percent Tuesday.

Romero said San Miguel County still hasn't been able to determine the extent of the damage caused by Friday's flood, but there were homes and other structures that had significant amounts of water.

"It's a slow process," Romero said. "It takes some time for for us to really go and assess all over the area in San Miguel County because it's so large."

Phone calls to the Mora County Fire Administrator David Montoya were not returned Saturday.

Pendaries Village General Manager Paul Aragon told residents in an email there had been substantial damage to the village's road system with logs and debris making some areas impassible.

He described his car being swept into a ditch by floodwaters.

Romero said San Miguel County has worked tirelessly on flood mitigation efforts with help from the New Mexico National Guard — but the mountainous terrain makes it difficult to predict where the water will go.

While the forest would normally absorb rain water, it was able to sweep right through the barren burn scar.

"There's nothing to catch this water and hold it back when it comes off of these pretty steep hillsides, so it just rushes down," Romero said. "It gets into these small canyons and little drainage areas. ... It just accumulates, and you get what we saw yesterday [Friday]."

The rain can cause additional environmental problems as it mixes with ash and dirt — forming mudslides and contaminating water sources.

Piles of wet ash lie along the roadways and forest trails, slowly making their way to ponds and streams.

Aragon wrote a pond in the Pendaries subdivision near Rociada was filled with ash and debris and will take years to turn it back into a useable water source.

"I think we're just seeing the effects of what's to come," Romero said.