Much of New Mexico is under flood watch after 100 people were rescued from the waters over the weekend

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Forecasters warned Monday that much of New Mexico faces two more days of heightened threats of dangerous flooding, as walls of water over the weekend caused severe damage, forced the rescue of 100 people and left parts of a town recently devastated by forest fires covered in mud and debris.

A person’s body was recovered from the Rio Grande in Albuquerque on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear if the death was related to the flooding, according to Albuquerque Fire Rescue and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue. The death remains under investigation and no other details have been released.

Most of central New Mexico remained under a flood watch through Tuesday, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Ruidoso.

“Very few parts of the state were immune to the impacts,” said Daniel Porter, senior meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. “Unfortunately, it is most likely that the threat will remain very high in the coming days, at least through Wednesday,” he told reporters during a press conference on Monday.

The threat is expected to ease briefly Thursday for the Fourth of July but begin to increase again over the weekend, Porter said.

The rains caused the most damage in areas of New Mexico where wildfires left the mountains bare of trees, shrubs and grass – including in northern New Mexico, where a historic fire burned several communities in 2022, and in the village of Ruidoso, where the Residents were forced to flee the fast-moving flames just a few weeks ago.

“Some of the damage I saw was really shocking. Some of it just took our breath away,” Andrew Mangham, a senior hydrologist with the weather service, said Monday after visiting some of the hardest-hit areas on Sunday.

“Absolutely complete devastation” in parts of Ruidoso, he said.

There were no reports of serious injuries.

National Guard spokesman Hank Minitrez confirmed that troops over the weekend helped rescue at least 100 people trapped by floodwaters in vehicles or otherwise, primarily in the Ruidoso area,

Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said she had “never seen anything like it.”

“It was crazy,” he told KRUI Radio on Monday.

Ruidoso spokesman Kerry Gladden said there were 26 quick water rescues in his village alone on Saturday and 51 on Sunday.

“We were incredibly lucky that we didn’t suffer any injuries. We didn’t have to transport anyone to the hospital,” she said. She said they had no immediate estimate of flood damage.

“This will take days,” she said Monday night.

The Albuquerque Police Department headquarters and City Hall suffered flood damage over the weekend, Mayor Tim Keller said Sunday.

According to the National Weather Service, quarter-sized hail and 60 mph winds hit the Albuquerque area Saturday night.

Heavy rain from a powerful storm caused flash flooding in many parts of the city and toppled power poles, leaving up to 20,000 residents without electricity for hours.

Keller said the basements of Albuquerque City Hall and police were flooded, but there was no immediate damage estimate.