Tag Archives: Roswell

Roswell deadly flooding has New Mexico Governor declaring a State of Emergency

New Mexico Flood

Important Takeaways:

  • The record-breaking event began Friday and continued through Sunday due to a slow-moving upper-level low-pressure system sitting on top of the Four Corners region in the Southwest, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
  • New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order Monday, declaring an emergency in Chaves County after record-breaking rain led to deadly flooding in the Roswell area over the weekend.
  • That declaration now unlocks $1 million in funding to help bolster flooding relief efforts in and around the Roswell area.
  • “My declaration of a state of emergency for Chaves County will help support local recovery efforts in the aftermath of historic and severe flooding in and around Roswell,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the swift actions taken by local authorities and our state departments to help communities in need.”
  • In addition to the emergency declaration, Lujan Grisham signed a second executive order that authorized the release of $250,000 to the New Mexico National Guard to support the disaster relief efforts.
  • On Saturday, NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) warned that heavy precipitation was likely to cause flash flooding in the region.
  • That forecast came to fruition late Saturday night when round after round of rain and thunderstorms marched across the Roswell area, eventually leading to rare Flash Flood Emergencies due to the rapidly rising water.
  • Rainfall rates of 1-3 inches an hour were reported, which exceeded the average hourly rain rate for October, November and December combined, according to the FOX Forecast Center.

Read the original article by clicking here.

New Mexico blast involving fireworks injures several firefighters

Smoke from an explosion is seen in Roswell, New Mexico, U.S., June 5, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. Roswell Today/via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Several firefighters were injured on Wednesday, two seriously, in an explosion at a building in Roswell, New Mexico, where fireworks were being stored for the city’s annual July Fourth celebrations, police and city officials said.

The blast occurred shortly after noon at a building on the grounds of the Roswell International Air Center, a commercial airport on the southern outskirts of the town, said Todd Wildermuth, a spokesman for the city.

He said about a dozen firefighters were in and around the building “doing some preparation work” for the city’s upcoming July Fourth Independence Day fireworks display when the explosion occurred.

He said two firefighters suffered serious injuries and were taken to local hospitals. A number of others who sustained minor injuries were treated on the scene.

The cause of the blast was under investigation, he said. The fireworks storage building, at the far west end of the airport property, is far enough away from the airport itself that flight operations were not affected, Wildermuth said.

Roswell, a city of about 48,000 residents in southeastern New Mexico about 200 miles southeast of the state capital, Albuquerque, is perhaps best known for the reported crash of an unidentified flying object in 1947 near what was then known as the Roswell Army Air Field.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish)