Severe Weather

Carlsbad, New Mexico, Flooding Prompts Evacuations

Surging floodwaters prompted authorities in Carlsbad, New Mexico, to urge residents to evacuate their homes early Monday morning.

According to Emergency Center spokesman Kenny Rayroux, crews went door-to-door in the James Street area urging residents of 88 homes to evacuate. People in another 30 homes along Fiesta Street were told to be ready to leave, if necessary.

Water was reportedly into homes on James Street and4 feet of water swamped San Jose Boulevard, according to the National Weather Service in Midland, Texas.

The Dark Canyon Draw in Carlsbad crested at 21.62 feet early Monday morning, just shy of its record crest of 22 feet set on August 23, 1966. The Pecos River, just east of the city crested just over 4.5 feet above flood stage, its highest stage since April 2004. Stages in both locations had plunged quickly following the early-morning flood wave.

Days of locally heavy rain wrung out from the remnant of Hurricane Odile have swamped parts of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. As of Sunday afternoon, one location near Carlsbad had measured 4.32 inches of rain since Sept. 18, roughly one-third of their average annual precipitation (13.41 inches).

Speaking to the widespread, persistent nature of the heavy rain since last week, the NWS-Midland said in their morning forecast discussion, "This may be the first time all three major rivers in their forecast area (Pecos, Rio Grande, and Colorado) have all had flooding issues at the same time."

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, about 18 miles southwest of the city of Carlsbad, was closed from Thursday through Sunday due to flooding.

The New Mexico National Guard on Saturday rescued 40 oilfield workers stranded by floodwaters, and a man was found dead near Loving after his vehicle got stuck in water.

In far northern New Mexico, water was reported in some homes in the town of Cimarron Sunday night, about 158 miles driving distance northeast of Santa Fe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.