SOCORRO, N.M. (AP) - Water that rushed through New Mexico’s Socorro County in the overnight hours left a trail of damage.
Floodwaters knocked out part of a transmission line that runs between Socorro and Magdalena, leaving hundreds without power, damaged homes, broken water lines and destroyed crops.
All 1,562 customers of the Socorro Electric Cooperative in and around Magdalena and the Alamo chapter of the Navajo Nation had their power restored by 5 p.m. Monday, company spokesman Jimmy Capps said.
Floodwaters had swept through an arroyo around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, uprooting poles and anchors along the transmission line.
Crews went out on ATVs in the dark to find the source of the power outage, Capps said.
Nearby in San Antonio, residents and restaurant owners were cleaning up debris and mud.
Eighteen homes were damaged, some with up to a foot of mud in them, Socorro County manager Delilah Walsh said. Residents reported hearing rumbling Sunday night before seeing what looked like a river flowing through their property, she said.
The community received little rain, but heavy rain elsewhere moved along and across local roads, dumping into San Antonio. A walk-in freezer and a propane tank used by businesses floated away, she said Monday.
Walsh estimated damages to the county at $25,000. That figure doesn’t factor in repairs for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway or irrigation ditches that were destroyed, she said.
No one was injured, and roads were passable Monday.
Crews were repairing a section of the track Monday that was washed out near San Antonio and would inspect the tracks because more rain is expected, BNSF railway spokesman Joe Sloan said. Freight trains on the line were halted in the meantime, he said.
“Trains will move once staff have determined it is safe,” he said.
State Rep. Gail Armstrong of Magdalena and Sen. Howie Morales of Silver City said they were working to help the community and encouraged Socorro County to request an emergency declaration.
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