CIMARRON FLOODS AFTER BIG RAIN HITS

KRTN Multi-Media 

Rainfall estimated at anywhere from 5 to 10 inches fell on Cimarron, NM in about a five hour period on Sunday night, September 21 into early Monday morning prompting the Village Council to declare a State of Emergency because of extensive flooding.

Nick Cardenas with the Philmont Fire Dept. assessed the situation at a news conference on Monday at Village Hall. 

He said that the dollar amount was still being gathered as the phone calls were still coming in and some residents who were out of town still have yet to check on their property.  Cardenas said the call went out at 9:12 pm Sunday night and after life and safety issues were handled, over 100 responders fanned out to help residents sand bag, clean up and secure their properties.  Cardenas said fortunately, there were no injuries or casualties and no evacuations.  He said though things were bad they could’ve been a lot worse.

The NM DOT also inspected and ok’d the bridges and supports on the roadways into and out of Cimarron. The only road that was washed out was the short cut road between Lambert Hills and Maxwell St.  There was a natural gas pipeline that was exposed, but it was also deemed safe and was being reburied Monday afternoon.

The Village Council’s Emergency Declaration is now headed on to the State of NM, FEMA and Homeland Security to see if funds can be made available in the form of grants or loans, to help people clean up or rebuild after the hard hit.

Cardenas said the over 100 people who helped were from several agencies and organizations including the Cimarron PD and EMS along with Philmont, who committed 26 staff and heavy equipment.  Aid arrived from Miami, Roy, Raton, Vermejo Park, Fire District 8, Harding County, NM State Police, NM State Hiway Dept, with the CS Ranch providing a front end loader.

All eyes were skyward as a 70% chance of showers was predicted for Monday afternoon on ground that was already saturated.  Cardenas said that it’s great living in a small town, because people come together in something like this.  It all worked

 

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