Santa Fe County Emergency Management Department
Water surges over N.M. 502
Heavy rainfall in the region has emergency managers preparing for swift water rescues and flood mitigation such as sandbags, though the scene here is far from being as dramatic as floods happening in Colorado and Southern New Mexico.
State Department of Transportation equipment operators have been moving mud and rocks off N.M. 30 and N.M. 502 north of Santa Fe as waters from adjacent arroyos carry debris over the roadways, but so far, there haven't been any major incidents related to the rain other than a few car accidents, Santa Fe County Emergency Manager Martin Vigil tells SFR.
"We are all kind of poised in standby mode," he says. "We have got plans in place in case we have to move people out of harm's way and to shelter people."
Santa Clara Pueblo is of particular concern because recent fires left a landscape prone to flash flooding, and that's why pueblo and county officials held a quick meeting at a gas station early Friday. Jacona and San Ildefonso are also areas that had rapidly-running arroyos and are on alert, Vigil says.
Ironically, Vigil conducted an exercise this week using a fake flood scenario.
"We worked all these detailed issues in a training mode, and just the very next day, everything started breaking loose in Boulder," he tells SFR. " This is pretty unprecedented conditions."
The city of Santa Fe reports no road problems from rain, but the Fort Marcy Recreation Center has a roof leak and the indoor swimming pool remains closed. The Genoveva Chavez Center pool is also closed Friday because of a boiler explosion that happened late Thursday, but that's apparently unrelated to weather, city spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter says.
Near Los Alamos, Bandelier National Monument is closed due to flooding, but officials say it's a precaution and there has not been any damage to buildings, the Los Alamos Daily Post reports.
Other road updates from DOT:
--New Mexico 68 northbound is closed on the near the Rinconada area. The roadway is closed on the southbound side near Pilar. Motorists will need to seek an alternate route between Taos and Espanola. This is due to heavy rainfall, large boulders and debris that have fallen into the roadway.
--NM 63 in Pecos is open but driving conditions are difficult
--N.M. 502 from 1.8 miles east of NM 4 exit at mile marker 7 to NM 30 exit at mile marker 10 is under flood advisory due to mud and debris in the roadway. Crews are working on clean up process. Motorists can expect a one lane closure and delays.
--N.M. 4, 21.7 miles West of NM 4 at mile marker 50 – Los Alamos -Road closed due to flooding, water going over roadway, mud and debris in the roadway.
--N.M. 434, north east of Mora, mile marker 17-24, is closed due to heavy rain fall and flooding. Detour through NM 518.
--N.M. 34, South of Rowe, mile marker 17-18 closed due to flooding and debris on roadway.
Got flooding? Tell SFR what's happening in your neighborhood in the comments section.
