Officials confirmed at least one person died and 290 people were rescued amid heavy rainfall and flooding near Roswell, New Mexico, a town about 200 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Chaves County—with more rain expected on Sunday.
The New Mexico National Guard said in a statement on social media it and other agencies rescued 290 people as of around noon Sunday, and 38 of those people were taken to local hospitals.
Officials with the city of Roswell said in a statement “one fatality has been confirmed as a result of the flooding,” though search-and-rescue efforts were still underway Sunday morning.
Roswell officials encouraged people to remain off the streets on Sunday as flood response efforts continued, saying debris on the streets is a danger and water levels were still high in downtown and along the overflowing Spring River channel.
Roswell and much of its surrounding areas are under either a flood watch or flood warning until 3 a.m. MDT Monday.
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More rain on Sunday. The National Weather Service said widespread showers and storms are expected throughout central and eastern New Mexico, and flash flooding and river flooding are possible again in Roswell. The storms could be severe enough to bring large hail, damaging wind gusts “and even a tornado or two,” the weather service said.
5.78. That’s how many inches of rain Roswell got on Saturday, setting a new daily record. The previous record of 5.65 inches was set on Nov. 1, 1901, the National Weather Service reported.
Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington posted a video early Sunday morning from the roof of his police truck, which was almost completely underwater. He said there were multiple vehicles that came into the area not expecting the high water levels and got swept into the flooding, and two people who had been walking through the water were waiting for the levels to go down with him.