- Title: Campground manager recalls "panic" to evacuate from flash flooding in New Mexico
- Date: 20th June 2024
- Summary: RUIDOSO DOWNS, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (JUNE 20, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOBBY SMITH WALKING INTO LAUNDRY AT RIVER RANCH RV PARK WHICH WAS HIT BY FLASh FLOODING FOOTSTEPS IN MUD BEEF JERKY BAG ON MUD (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOBBY SMITH, 70, MANAGER AT RIVER RANCH RV PARK, SAYING: "Panic.Trying to help everybody get out that I knew who was here and the emergency people, they said, I mean, they were screaming, 'Just get out, don't wait on nothing.' If you got some last minute possessions, just forget 'em, just go. Because it was, it was coming real fast." SMITH PLACING TOOL ON VEHICLE VARIOUS OF SMITH DRIVING VIEW OF RV PARK AS SMITH DRIVES (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOBBY SMITH, 70, MANAGER AT RIVER RANCH RV PARK, SAYING: "Luckily, a lot of people had already come got their rigs and moved 'em out. If not, this would have been a whole lot worse. And, everybody was pretty much packed up to evacuate." RIVER / RVs (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK ROBERT, 74, VISITING FROM TOMBALL, TEXAS, SAYING: "Even though there was only a 50% chance of rain, started to hail badly. Heavy rainfall, hail was about the size of quarters, and I just saw the river coming up and coming up. And like I said, I'm right on the river and it got to about knee high on me." SIGN THAT READS ‘NO CAMPFIRES’ FOOTSTEPS IN MUD (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK ROBERT, 74, VISITING FROM TOMBALL, TEXAS, SAYING: "This was different because it was fast flowing water. It wasn't standing water like Harvey pretty much was. And that, that makes a big difference. Not as deep, but when you've got it, it was probably flowing at about 8, 10 knots." AMERICAN FLAG / RV PARK (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK HERNÁNDEZ, EMPLOYEE AT THE NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, SAYING: "We got a lot of debris here. This could have caused a serious, serious flooding across highway 70 here, but actually this a old burn scar from 10 to 12 years ago. Up here you can see where there's not many trees, pine trees, right back up there. So this is what is expected in the years to come with the fire that just happened on the upper part of Ruidoso." EXCAVATOR AND DEBRIS
- Embargoed: 5th July 2024 00:45
- Keywords: FLOOD NEW MEXICO WILDFIRE
- Location: RUIDOSO DOWNS, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
- City: RUIDOSO DOWNS, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America,Wildfires/Forest Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001253320062024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents at the River Ranch Recreational Vehicle Park in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, were mopping up and assessing the damage on Thursday (June 20) after heavy rain triggered flash floods shortly after a wildfire swept through the area.
Bobby Smith, 70, park manager, described the panic as emergency personnel alerted campers about evacuations.
“They were screaming, 'Just get out, don't wait on nothing.’” Smith recounted.
Mark Robert from Tomball, Texas, spends his summers in New Mexico to escape the Texas heat and humidity. He recounted the sudden rise of the water. "Heavy rainfall, hail was about the size of quarters, and I just saw the river coming up and coming up," Robert said.
Patrick Hernández from the New Mexico Department of Transportation explained that burn scars from previous fires amplified the flood risk. "This is what is expected in the years to come with the fire that just happened on the upper part of Ruidoso," Hernández said.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters around 500 homes were thought to be among the more than 1,400 buildings razed by the two blazes, making it one of the most destructive wildfires in state history.
New Mexico is caught in a decades-long drought that has made wildfires more destructive and faster moving.
In 2022 the state suffered the largest blaze in the continental United States which burned over 341,000 acres (138,000 hectares).
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