Trump approves major disaster declaration, more aid for flooded Lincoln County - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning approved a major disaster declaration for New Mexico flood victims, following deadly flash floods in Lincoln County earlier this month.
According to a news release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the approval makes federal funds available to impacted Lincoln County residents for temporary housing and repairs, and also opens up loans for uninsured property, among other programs. Federal funding also is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis —with 75% reimbursement — for emergency repairs and replacements of damaged facilities.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham requested the aid in the aftermath of the fatal July 8 flooding that killed three people. The state received partial approval for some aid on July 10, with both the governor and the state’s congressional delegation promising to continue pushing for the major disaster declaration approved on Wednesday.
“This federal declaration delivers the action we sought for a community that has shown incredible resilience through repeated disasters,” the governor said in a statement. “The people of Lincoln County deserve every resource we can provide, and we will continue working until every family and business in New Mexico has fully recovered.”
State officials are meeting with FEMA and securing documents for additional federal funds for permanent repairs to public infrastructure and for flood damage in Chaves, Otero and Valencia counties from monsoon rains this season, said Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Monsoon rains have continued to flood roads and cause power outages in Ruidoso, including Tuesday. While officials reported no water rescues during heavy rains Tuesday, debris sloughing off the burn scars caused a three-foot wave of mud that blocked roads. The Lincoln County emergency manager reported several road closures Tuesday due to water or debris.
The confluence of federal cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and recent deadly flooding disasters in Texas and New Mexico have caused uncertainty for which resources remain available to prepare or respond in the aftermath of extreme weather, occurring more frequently under climate change.
“There are certain resources the federal government brings to the table that the state just can’t do,” DHSEM State Director Ali Rye told Source NM on Tuesday.
The New Mexico National Guard remains stationed in Ruidoso to address debris removal or further rescue operations, she said, adding that the state was addressing short-term housing for people whose homes the flooding made unlivable.
“The governor has given the direction that we take care of New Mexicans the best way we know how and then we’ll figure out on the back end how we get paid for it, get reimbursed,” Rye said.
Rye noted that while the state is currently “well-positioned” to respond to further disasters, the uncertainty for how FEMA or federal resources will continue to operate could change that picture.
“I don’t know what level of repercussions may roll downhill, but I will say that any impact to federal funding, specifically human funding, will hit us across the board,” she said.
Rye said state emergency officials have pushed for FEMA reform, saying the agency needs to adapt from its establishment 30 years ago.
“It’s very outdated, very cumbersome and burdensome on areas that are trying to recover from the worst days of their lives,” she said. “But we can’t afford for FEMA to go away.”
Disaster assistance
Residents can apply for assistance online at disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. MST.
Flood waters race through New Mexico community, prompting rescues - Associated Press
At least 20 people had to be rescued as flood waters raced through a New Mexico community near the Texas state line overnight, marking the latest deluge of summer rain to force evacuations and cause damage for the otherwise arid region.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque and El Paso, Texas, have been busy in recent weeks issuing flood watches and warnings as afternoon thunderstorms crank up across the region. It's part of the monsoon's daily ritual.
Authorities in Doña Ana County conducted damage assessments Wednesday as they shifted to recovery operations. Initial reports from the county's emergency management team showed about 110 homes in the Vado area were damaged by flood waters, several hundred homes were without power and some roads remained closed.
Emergency crews transported two people to the hospital with minor injuries, county officials said.
“All of our flooding protocols were working. It was just too much water,” county spokesperson Ariana Parra said of the storm.
Resident Sally Sanchez-Gonzales asked for prayers Tuesday night as waves of muddy water crested just beyond the fence that lines her property. On Wednesday, she shared a video that showed the aftermath, the mud having caked a large swath of desert as debris clogged other areas.
“My family is still trying to help some families evacuate at the lower ends and others returned to get important items,” she told The Associated Press. “There’s a lot of cleanup to do.”
The flooding in Vado resulted from more than 2 inches (5.08 centimeters) of rain that fell Tuesday, officials said.
To the north, the mountain community of Ruidoso is still recovering from deadly flooding that damaged hundreds of homes as storm water rushed off mountainsides that have been scarred over recent years by wildfire. Without trees and other vegetation to hold back the water, the village has been forced to issue almost daily warnings for people to stay clear of creeks and low-lying areas.
State officials on Wednesday announced the federal government has issued a major disaster declaration for communities in Lincoln County, including Ruidoso.
NM lawmakers' addresses removed from website as precaution amid security concerns - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
The New Mexico Legislature has removed lawmakers’ home addresses from the legislative website, following the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers at their homes last month.
The decision to do so was made “in an abundance of caution” by the Legislature’s administrative arm, the Legislative Council Service, in consultation with top-ranking Democratic lawmakers, said LCS Director Shawna Casebier.
She said legislators are encouraged to use a post office box or nonresidential mailing address for posting to the legislative website, while describing the question of whether home addresses will be returned to the public website as an “ongoing discussion.”
Other states have taken similar steps since the June shootings in Minnesota, in which state Rep. Melissa Hartman and her husband were killed. Another Democratic legislator, state Sen. John Hoffman, was also shot in his home but survived.
New Mexico lawmakers have grappled with security concerns even before the Minnesota assassination, including after a string of drive-by shootings targeting Democratic elected officials’ homes took place following the 2022 general election.
No one was injured in those shootings, but Solomon Peña, a former Republican state House candidate, was convicted in March of all counts he was charged with in connection with the shootings. He faces a mandatory 60 years in prison when sentenced next month.
After those shootings, legislators’ addresses were removed from the legislative website but some were later reposted at the request of individual lawmakers, Casebier said.
Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said she and House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, were in quick agreement on the decision to remove lawmakers’ addresses from the website after last month’s shootings in Minnesota.
She also said Senate Democrats recently held a caucus meeting on security issues, during which legislators were urged to look into home security technology and were provided with additional information.
“It’s just sort of basic security precautions that we’re trying to think about,” Stewart told the Journal. “We have to pay attention and we’re doing it.”
But she also acknowledged that political violence targeting elected officials has already discouraged some potential candidates from running. She also said it could prompt some legislators to step down.
“It’s a scary time we live in,” Stewart said Wednesday. “We’re trying to allay those fears and keep people safe.”
The recent actions come after previous steps to address security concerns.
In 2021, top-ranking New Mexico lawmakers voted to ban guns and other weapons from the Roundhouse, with certain limited exceptions. That vote led to metal detectors being installed at the public entrances to the building.
Meanwhile, a 2023 elections bill included a provision that allows elected officials in New Mexico to keep their home addresses confidential in certain mandatory filings with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Stewart said the security-motivated policies would not make the Legislature less transparent, citing the webcasting of all interim committee hearings and other initiatives.
Many legislators also have the names and phone numbers of their district legislative assistants posted on the Legislature’s website.
“We don’t intend to lock the public out of anything,” said Stewart.
US government is building a 5,000-person immigrant detention camp in west Texas - Associated Press
The U.S. government is building an immense 5,000-person detention camp in west Texas, government contract announcements said, sharply increasing the Trump administration’s ability to hold detained immigrants amid its ever-growing mass deportation efforts.
A Defense Department contract announcement on Monday said Acquisition Logistics, a Virginia-based firm, had been awarded $232 million in Army funds to build the facility, which would be used for single immigrant adults.
Procurement documents called it a “soft sided facility,” a phrase often used for tent camps.
The announcement came just weeks after Florida authorities rushed to construct a new immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which was built on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland in the Florida Everglades.
The announcement said the new facility would be built in El Paso, which is home to Ft. Bliss, an Army base that stretches across parts of Texas and New Mexico.
President Donald Trump recently signed a law setting aside $170 billion on border and immigration enforcement, including $45 billion for detention, even as the number of illegal border crossings has plunged. ICE will see its funding grow by $76.5 billion over five years, nearly 10 times its current annual budget.
Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández concerned about Laguna Fire management - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
The Laguna Fire has burned more than 16,000 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest, and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández wants answers about the Forest Service’s fire management decisions.
“The fire is currently destroying thousands of acres of the Santa Fe National Forest and has killed and maimed the livestock of local ranchers in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico,” Leger Fernández wrote in a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on Monday.
The 3rd Congressional District congresswoman questioned if staff cuts played a role in the fire’s management and said northern New Mexico has lost trust in the agency’s wildfire decision-making after the 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire.
The Laguna Fire began on June 25 after a lightning strike. Because it was a low-intensity fire, initially the Forest Service built a 13,000-acre perimeter around the fire, meant to contain the fire and let it burn fuel. The Laguna Fire has never lacked sufficient staffing, according to Santa Fe National Forest spokeswoman Claudia Brookshire.
“What we know from decades of fire management is that if we fail to take advantage of opportunities to reduce fuels when we can, it only compounds future risk, resulting in larger, more destructive wildfires down the road,” Brookshire said in a statement.
Burning fuel in a low-intensity fire is meant to protect the long-term health of the watershed by preventing future extreme fires, and burning under conditions that won’t lead to long-term negative outcomes such as flooding.
That strategy appeared to be working, as on July 10 fire managers had achieved most of their fuel reduction goals, stopped backburns and contained the fire at just over 11,000 acres, according to the agency. On July 11, embers jumped over containment lines, igniting a spot fire near Laguna Peak. Then a thunderstorm brought in winds, making the fire on Laguna Peak more extreme. It rapidly grew by 3,000 acres. So, the Forest Service shifted strategies to contain the wildfire with full suppression. On Tuesday, the fire was 55% contained.
“The blaze killed and maimed livestock in its path, devastating the livelihoods of local ranchers who have grazed cattle on French Mesa and other adjacent forest lands for over a century,” wrote Leger Fernández, D-New Mexico.
Even before the strategy change, Robert Vigil was upset by the Forest Service’s decisions after at least 10 of his cattle were killed and more maimed by the fire.
“Our herd’s completely destroyed. Our way of life, our heritage, is completely destroyed,” Vigil said.
On July 2, he attended a community meeting where people with permits to graze cattle on national forest land were told the Forest Service planned to do a backburn, a common fire management strategy, east of Forest Road 8.
The next week, there was a backburn west of Forest Road 8, trapping Vigil’s cattle between a fire and a fence they couldn’t escape. Vigil said he was given no notice there would be a fire west of Forest Road 8.
“They admitted to giving out the wrong information, and at no time did they tell us to move our cattle, that they were going to burn west of Forest Road 8,” Vigil said.
According to Brookshire, all grazing permittees were given an overall perimeter map ahead of the backburns, which included burns east and west of Forest Road 8. Permittees were also given a map showing fire operations for a specific day with the backburn east of Forest Road 8, she said.
“Unfortunately, that map they’re referring to was an operations map, meant to show where they were occurring that day, so they could make plans that day,” Brookshire said.
Brookshire said the Forest Service is in daily contact with grazing permittees and has also communicated with land grants and tribes in the area. Permittees who lost livestock due to the fire have been asked to submit a claim for financial compensation. The agency has also been helping relocate cattle, finding hay supply options and veterinary services, she said.
Multiple people rescued, at least one home destroyed as floods strike Ruidoso — Staff report, Albuquerque Journal
Heavy rain and hail over a burn scar caused the Rio Ruidoso to rise a dozen feet Thursday — leading to several people being rescued and at least one home destroyed.
Village of Ruidoso spokesperson Kerry Gladden said three inches of rain and hail fell on the South Fork burn scar in an hour, sending debris-filled floodwaters rushing downhill. The waters, she said, carried away a home in the Paradise Canyon-area.
A video, widely shared over social media, showed a home swept downstream by the floodwaters, breaking apart as it hit trees and other obstacles. Gladden said one person was rescued from a vehicle and four others from homes.
She said nobody was injured, killed or reported missing from the floods.
During a July 8 flood, in which the river rose more than20 feet, two children and a man were killed after being swept away from an RV Park.
The village nestled in the mountains of south-central New Mexico has been inundated by floods all summer and was placed under yet another flash flood warning Thursday afternoon.
During the ensuing downpour, the Rio Ruidoso rose to around 12 feet on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Around 1 p.m., people began posting videos to the Ruidoso Community Support Page on Facebook showing floodwaters gushing through the village and the Rio Ruidoso overflowing its banks.
The Village of Ruidoso reported several road closures and the Public Service Company of New Mexico reported several power outages in the area Thursday afternoon, but power was restored by 3:30 p.m.
Gladden said the village has been staging rescue crews anytime a flood warning is issued, and the crews go to work as soon as floodwaters recede enough to do so.
“Unfortunately, we are getting very good at that,” Gladden said.
The village advised those in need of assistance to visit the Disaster Resource Center at the Eastern New Mexico University-Ruidoso annex at 709 Mecham Drive. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Shelters have been established at the ENMU Ruidoso campus and the Ruidoso Community Center, 501 Sudderth Drive.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for recovery efforts in the Ruidoso area following the deadly flooding on July 8.