Home Care In Salem, NM

NOTE: Video is from our team weather coverage before the evacuation orders were lifted.

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Doña Ana County has lifted evacuation orders for residents and visitors in Salem, Hatch, Garfield, Placitas, and Rincon.

Heavy rain and a flash-flood emergency at McLeod Dam forced evacuations on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The last evacuation order for Rincon was lifted Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 30, but Doña Ana County urges caution for individuals returning to the area.

The County said it has lifted the evacuation for the other four communities because the storms have passed and additional “large amounts of rain are not forecasted,” the County said.

Officials stated Rincon’s evacuation orders were lifted after determining that the major flooding risk had subsided.

Residents returning to Rincon are avised to remain cautious due to flooding, debris, damaged roads, and other hazards.

Officials reported that at least one water rescue was conducted in the area on Wednesday morning, Sept. 30.

A video posted to social media by Doña Ana County Public Safety showed multiple agencies assisting in a water rescue for a woman stuck in floodwaters on Highway 185.

“Doña Ana County Fire Rescue, Las Cruces Fire Swift Water Rescue Team, NMSP, DASO, MVSAR, and the National Guard rescued one person from a vehicle that became trapped in high floodwaters,” the caption read

A flash flood emergency was issued for McLeod Dam Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 29.

According to the National Weather Service, dam operators reported the “imminent failure” of McLeod Dam on the McLeod Arroyo.

At the time, officials urged residents to seek higher ground, saying the incident is a “dangerous situation” and “life-threatening.” They also said residents should not to wait for conditions to worsen before evacuating.

Now that evacuation orders have been lifted for all five communities impacted, residents should:

Video footage showed the conditions in Garfield and Salem on Tuesday afternoon. Buses were seen driving through flooded roadways.

“It’s so sad here in Salem. Residents are having issues getting home. Roads are slick, flooded and in some areas impassable. Farmers have had a hard year with the drought and severe heat and now they are losing crops due to flooding and too much rain. Pray for our community,” Victoria Franzoy she told KTSM.

She shared a photograph of the Rio Grande showing a surge of rushing water, and pointed out that the riverbed had been dry just one day earlier.

Students of Garfield Elementary School were “safely transported” to Hatch Valley High School where parents could pick them up.

Due to heavy rains, Hatch Valley Public Schools is canceling school on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

“Due to the recent heavy rains, we are aware that many of our families are being impacted by impassable roads, flooding, and limited transportation,” the district said.

“We made this decision to keep our students safe while giving flooded or muddy roads time to dry out,” the district added.

Footage taken by WxChasing showed Interstate 25 in Hatch flooded. According to the Facebook post, firefighters are performing water rescues as the Rio Grande swells beyond its banks.

Photos from NM 313 near mileposts 11 and 12 show flooded roads and debris on the highway.

Dona Ana County said it wanted to thank residents for following evacuation instructions and emergency responders, public safety agencies, public works crews and community partners who continue working to protect residents and respond to flooding.

For the latest information and updates, visit donaana.gov.

Late Tuesday night, Doña Ana County began lifting evacuation orders it had issued earlier in the day for several agricultural communities in the Hatch Valley.

As of 11 p.m., only Rincon remained under an evacuation notice, the county said, “due to the dangers of standing floodwaters.”

Residents of Hatch and the neighboring communities of Placitas, Salem, Garfield and Rincon were urged to evacuate Tuesday amid a flash flood emergency and concerns that an area dam and vital waterway were being overwhelmed by floods following heavy showers throughout the day.

It began with notices from the county that “strongly encouraged” several hundred residents of Salem, Garfield and Rincon, north of Las Cruces, to seek safer ground as the McLead Dam (known locally as the Garfield dam) showed signs of potential failure.

Shortly before 7 p.m., the county added Hatch, with a population between 1,500 and 1,600, to the evacuation orders. Placitas, sitting to Hatch’s west with a few hundred residents, followed within an hour.

Residents were urged to gather medications and limited essentials, as well as pets, and make their way south to the Radium Springs Community Center, the Doña Ana Community Resource Center in Las Cruces, or other safe locations while avoiding flooded roads and low-water crossings. Travelers were encouraged to use Interstate 25 as the safest route.

“Residents should not wait until conditions worsen to evacuate,” the evacuation notice stated.

County Commission Chairman Manny Sanchez, whose district includes the Hatch Valley, told the Journal he made a visit to the area Tuesday afternoon where he found the Rio Grande “at its banks” near Rincon “hit pretty hard.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Interim County Manager Stephen Lopez said, “There is a potential dam failure warning out for the area.”

At 8:30 p.m., county spokesperson Ariana Parra said there had been “a very small piping failure” that been mitigated. “No water is exiting from the dam at this point,” she said. “Pumps are en route to the structure to pump water out downstream and alleviate pressure on the dam.”

In the meantime, structures remained at risk for overtopping with additional rainfall, necessitating the evacuation orders, Parra said.

The National Weather Service’s El Paso station reported that a Rio Grande gauge at near Rincon measured 10.8 feet, with a flow of 6,250 cubic feet per second. Thunderstorms delivered still more rain as of 7:41 p.m. As of 10:22 p.m., NWS reported 1 to 3 inches had fallen.

A flood warning remained in effect for the area until 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, and flooding temporarily closed some area roads.

NM Highway 185 was closed in both directions between Fort Selden and Angostura, a community east of Hatch; NM Highway 140 in both directions for a mile’s stretch in Rincon; and NM Highway 187 between Salem and Garfield.

The U.S. Border Patrol was among the agencies assisting at evacuation sites and shelters, the county reported on its social media channels, stating, “Agents are NOT conducting immigration enforcement at this time.”

It was not immediately clear how many residents were served at shelters. Garfield has approximately 100 residents, based on the 2020 Census and more recent survey data. Rincon has fewer than 300 and Salem reports fewer than 1,000 residents.

Algernon D’Ammassa is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at [email protected].

UPDATE: 10:46PM - Doña Ana County has lifted the evacuation order for Salem, Hatch, Garfield and Placitas. The evacuation order remains in effect for Rincon.

The county is urging those returning to their home to use caution as flooding, debris, damaged roads and other hazards may remain.

UPDATE: 7:47PM - Doña Ana County has now issued an evacuation order for residents in Placitas.

UPDATE: 7:25PM - Doña Ana County has now issued an evacuation order for Hatch residents.

Residents are encouraged to use Interstate-25 as their route of evacuation.

UPDATE: 5:37PM - Doña Ana County said worsening conditions are expected and Hatch residents are asked to prepare for evacuations.

The county uses a "Ready, Set, Go" approach to how communities are prepared to evacuate.

The the three-tier approach helps residents prepare the necessary medications, documentation, food and other supplies needed to leave their homes.

Ready: residents are asked to prepare, make a plan, gather all essentials and be ready to evacuate.

Set: residents should be prepared to leave immediately. This is when conditions are developing rapidly and residents need to monitor official channels for direction on evacuation locations.

Go: residents need to evacuate immediately and follow official and recommended evacuation routes.

Rincon, Garfield, and Salem are currently on GO phase and need to use I-25 as their evacuation route.

Hatch is currently on the Ready stage and should start planning to evacuate.

UPDATE: Doña Ana County has added Rincon to the evacuation order due to the worsening weather conditions.

Authorities are urging residents in the most affected areas to seek shelter at: Radium Springs Community Resource Center, 12060 Lindbeck Rd., or the Doña Ana Community Resource Center, 5745 Ledesma Dr.

Anyone in the area is asked to use I-25 as their main route of evacuation.

All residents are urged to take essential medications, identifications, important documents, necessary supplies and clothing for children and pets.

Doña Ana County is urging residents not to wait until conditions worsen as the storms continue to hit the area.

DOÑA ANA COUNTY, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The National Weather Service has issued an urgent warning for residents to seek higher ground as a dam northwest of Hatch, New Mexico is in danger of failing from heavy rains Tuesday afternoon. County officials have also issued an evacuation warning for nearby towns.

According to the emergency notice, the flash flood warning was issued due to the potential break of the McLeod Dam. Operators of the dam reported the imminent failure of the dam, with the possibility of catastrophic damage and life threatening situations in the path of the water.

The alert is in place until 4:45 p.m. Anyone in low lying areas below the dam are instructed to move to higher ground immediately.

Doña Ana County issued an evacuation notice for the towns of Salem and Garfield in the area.

The county has set up an evacuation center for those needing shelter at the Radium Springs Community Resource Center at 12060 Lindbeck Rd.

The American Red Cross will be providing services there.

The county has added another evacuation center at the Doña Ana Community Resource Center, located at 5745 Ledesma Drive.

According to the county, residents who are evacuating should take essential medications, identification, important documents, necessary supplies and items for children and pets.

Dam SpillwayGennady Zakharin / Unsplash

A flash flood emergency swept through northwestern Doña Ana County after officials warned that McLeod Dam was at risk of imminent failure, prompting evacuation orders for the small communities of Salem and Garfield. Dam operators and county officials said a break could send life-threatening flooding surging through the area, and residents in low-lying zones were told to get to higher ground immediately.

The National Weather Service issued the flash flood emergency because of the risk that McLeod Dam, located on McLeod Arroyo, could fail, according to koat.com. The dam sits in northwestern Doña Ana County, and the emergency was specifically tied to a potential dam break on the arroyo below it, as reported by kob.com. Salem and Garfield, communities situated between Truth or Consequences and Hatch, both received evacuation notices as a result.

Doña Ana County issued the evacuation notice for Salem and Garfield, and officials strongly encouraged residents in the affected areas to leave immediately rather than wait for conditions to worsen, per cbs4local.com. The warning zone covered rural areas between Garfield and Salem, including portions of Highways 187 and 390 and stretches along the Garfield Drain and Garfield Canal, according to a bulletin logged by defconlevel.com. That warning was reported as remaining in effect until 4:45 p.m. MDT Tuesday afternoon, per the same alert.

Officials described the situation as dangerous and life-threatening, and residents below the dam in low-lying areas were urged to move to higher ground right away, per kob.com. According to KTSM 9 News, county officials said they would continue sharing updates on evacuation areas, road conditions, and available resources through the county's official social media channels and website.

Garfield Elementary School students were transported safely to Hatch Valley High School, where parents could pick them up, KTSM 9 News reported. Families forced from their homes were told they could seek shelter at a facility in Radium Springs, with the American Red Cross expected to be on site to assist evacuees.

Reports differed slightly on the shelter's exact name and address: cbs4local.com identified it as the Radium Springs Community Resource Center at 12060 Lindbeck Road, while koat.com referred to it as the Radium Springs Community Center at 12060 LB Lindbeck Road in Las Cruces. County officials advised anyone evacuating to bring essential medications, identification, important documents, necessary supplies, and items for children and pets.

The dam emergency followed a broader flood threat that had already been building across the region. An area-wide Flood Watch was scheduled to begin at noon Monday as showers and thunderstorms moved into the area, according to cbs4local.com, setting the stage for the rapidly escalating warning that followed hours later.

Dam-failure scares have unfolded elsewhere in the country this year with mixed outcomes. In Minnesota, the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River suffered a partial failure of its western support structure after debris blockage eroded the western bank, according to newsnationnow.com; two homes downstream were evacuated there, though authorities said at the time that no mass evacuations had been ordered. In Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a Condition Red Warning for an imminent breach at Nolichucky Dam amid record river levels and ordered mandatory evacuations along the river in South Hamblen County, before later determining the dam was stable and secure, per wjhl.com.

As of the latest reports, it remains unclear whether McLeod Dam ultimately held or failed, or how long the evacuation notices for Salem and Garfield stayed in place. Doña Ana County officials said they would continue posting updates through the county's official channels as the situation develops.