Flooding in the Land of Enchantment

What next? Mosquitoes in New Mexico?
Obert, did you read this? Or were you golfing in the rain in the Seveyless Open? And I quote Tom Obert, in response to the Harland Hoffland boast that there are no mosquitoes in New Mexico:
"The reason there are no mosquitoes, is there is no water!"


ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — The Otero County Commission has declared an emergency in the county after flooding in the mountain community of Timberon and Alamo Canyon near Alamogordo.
Recent flooding has not been as severe as a June 22 flood in Alamogordo, but authorities said rains in the past few days led to renewed problems in the city and in Boles Acres, near Alamo Canyon.
Photos given Monday to the commission by county emergency services coordinator Paul Quairoli showed the Sacramento River overflowing its banks at Timberon, washed-out bridges, clogged culverts and roads eroded up to 25 feet.
Quairoli estimated damages to that area at more than $300,000
Timberon resident Linda Gentry said culverts in the area are packed with debris and rocks and consequently they are unable to carry off the water.
"At one point, we had water over the roads and we couldn't get emergency vehicles anywhere. If we'd had an emergency, we would have been stuck," Gentry said.
Weekend rain in Alamo Canyon, meanwhile, sent a wall of water into Boles Acres. When sandbags were used to protect the ditches there, water flowed through private properties.
Weekend flooding also occurred in Oro Vista and in Three Rivers.
County crews and even inmates from the county jail are working to clean up from the storms, said commission Chairman Doug Moore.
Citizens are frustrated over repeated flooding, he said.
"New Mexico continues to experience 100-, 200- even 500-year events, one right on top of each other, due to the weather pattern we are locked in," he said. "The infrastructure is not prepared to handle it."
He said property owners must be their own first line of defense.
"They need to take it upon themselves to go get the sandbags and fill them up themselves and protect their property," Moore said.