New Mexico was being hammered Tuesday by a sprawling flood emergency that triggered mandatory evacuations, a threatened dam failure, submerged highways, school closures, National Guard rescues, and warnings of potentially catastrophic flooding from Doña Ana County to Santa Fe and Ruidoso.
Some of the most alarming scenes unfolded in the Hatch Valley, where authorities escalated from flood warnings to evacuation orders as torrents of water overwhelmed roads and arroyos.
By Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service had issued a Flash Flood Emergency for Doña Ana County after dam operators and county officials reported that McLeod Dam was at risk of imminent failure.
The warning was stark: a breach could unleash life-threatening flooding between Garfield and Salem, prompting authorities to tell residents to get out. KOAT reported the National Weather Service called the unfolding event a “particularly dangerous situation.”
The situation deteriorated rapidly.
Residents in Garfield, Rincon, Hatch, and surrounding areas were ordered to evacuate as floodwater spread through the valley. Doña Ana County emergency officials told people in Hatch to “Evacuate immediately” and head toward the Doña Ana or Radium Springs community centers, warning that roads could become blocked or congested.
Earlier, Garfield residents received the same urgent command. Rincon was also placed under evacuation orders, while authorities reported that the Rincon Arroyo had breached levees near the community’s water treatment plant, threatening nearby structures.
Roads disappear under floodwater
The transportation situation became increasingly treacherous as water and debris swallowed stretches of roadway.
NM 185 north and south of Hatch was shut down, while NM 187 near Salem and Garfield was described as impassable, with water running across dips and debris scattered over the roadway.
The National Weather Service had warned earlier that thunderstorms capable of producing rainfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour were moving into the Hatch and Rincon Valley, threatening serious flash flooding in arroyos, low-water crossings, streets, and poor-drainage areas.
Another NWS warning described rainfall rates between 2 and 4 inches per hour over the upper Hatch Valley and cautioned that arroyos and streams could turn into violent currents with little notice.
The familiar warning became especially urgent Tuesday:
“Turn around, don’t drown.”
National Guard called into action
The New Mexico National Guard, which had rescue teams staged around the state earlier in the day, was soon putting them to use.
At least one person trapped by floodwaters near Hatch was rescued by Guard personnel as conditions worsened.
Hatch Valley Public Schools later announced classes would be canceled the following day because many families were dealing with flooded or impassable roads and limited transportation.
Ruidoso, Santa Fe also hit
The chaos was hardly confined to southern New Mexico.
In Ruidoso, flooding shut down roads near Ponderosa Drive and Brady Canyon Road. Earlier in the day, residents in Upper Canyon behind Main and Fox Road were placed under a voluntary evacuation because of landslide concerns.
The National Weather Service warned that saturated ground could make the flooding especially dangerous, with additional heavy rainfall capable of producing rapid runoff.
Santa Fe County was also dealing with multiple flooded roadways. San Ysidro Crossing, Ojo de la Vaca Road, and Cañada Village Road were all closed because of floodwater, while overflowing water in the Arroyo Hondo reportedly cut off access to 20 to 30 homes.
A flood warning remained in effect for central Santa Fe County, where the National Weather Service warned that creeks, streams, low-water crossings, and other flood-prone areas were already inundated or continuing to rise.
Severe storms hammer Otero County
Otero County was not spared.
Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Tuesday afternoon, including for Alamogordo, Timberon, Mayhill, and Oliver Lee State Park.
Forecasters warned of winds reaching 60 mph, hail, and the possibility of an isolated tornado.
The broader weather setup was ominous. The National Weather Service said a surge of monsoonal moisture was creating a heightened statewide flash-flood threat through Wednesday, with river flooding also possible through Friday.
A flood watch covered virtually all of New Mexico Tuesday as the remnants and moisture associated with Hurricane Polo tracked toward the state.
A state under water
From flooded streets in Bernalillo and Belen to warnings in Socorro, Catron, Grant, Luna, Sierra, Lincoln, Santa Fe, Otero, and Doña Ana counties, Tuesday’s storm became a statewide siege of water.
Roads closed. Schools emptied early. Evacuation centers opened. A boulder tumbled onto State Road 68. Chaco Canyon shut down after a county road collapsed. And in the Hatch Valley, families were told to leave immediately as emergency crews watched rising water and a potentially failing dam.
Officials continued urging residents to avoid flooded roads, obey evacuation orders, and treat moving water as potentially deadly.
With additional rainfall still possible, the danger was far from over.