One family who ignored the evacuation orders at first, is urging others to take them seriously.
SAN JUAN COUNTY, N.M. —
Historic flooding across northern New Mexico has caused extensive damage, displacing families, prompting evacuations and leading to hundreds of rescues as water continues to pour into homes and neighborhoods.
One family in San Juan County shared their experience of initially ignoring evacuation orders and is now urging others to take them seriously.
“We got the notifications to evacuate, but it was our house. You know, we had everything in there. Our furniture, pictures, everything we’ve made since we were in kindergarten. So we didn’t evacuate, we didn’t want to leave,” said Adriannah Romero.
Water began seeping under the front door, and urgent calls from a neighbor convinced the family to leave.
“As soon as [my dad] opened [the door], the water came in, broke the screen door, flooded our house. It was at least to my shins,” Romero said. “My little brother, I think he thought he was dreaming, went back to bed, so we had to go back in the house.”
Her father placed the children on top of parked cars to keep them above the water before returning to retrieve essentials.
“Just my dog, my siblings, my phone, my charger, and my dad’s keys. That was it. We had to get out of there,” she said.
The family’s vehicle struggled through deep floodwater as they sought safety.
“It was like kind of swimming in there. You could barely even hit the gas and the brakes,” Adriannah said.
The family is among thousands affected by the flooding. Emmeri Ortega, the only 211 operator in San Juan County, is organizing a team of volunteers to help answer calls to the community helpline.
“People don’t know where to start. They are calling me and say ‘I lost absolutely everything. Where do I go? Where do I go from here?’” Ortega said.
Families have been scrambling to escape, leaving behind homes, RVs, cars, and, in some cases, pets and livestock.
“Another thing that we are super concerned about is a lot of the homeless population lives near the river, so we don’t know how many of them actually made it out,” Ortega said.
The once-in-a-generation flood has prompted the tight-knit community to take action.
“I’ve had more people call me to volunteer their time and to donate things than I’ve had people actually call and ask for help,” Ortega said.
Adriannah said her family has received support from across the community.
“We’ve gotten support from every religion, every church, the Baptist church, Catholic church, Mormon churches, our soccer teams, all of our family, my little sister’s soccer teams, everybody’s parents. They’ve all been calling,” Adriannah said.
The family is currently staying in an Airbnb on high ground in Farmington.
San Juan County officials are asking the public to stay out of evacuated zones until they are declared safe, noting that trespassers sidetrack emergency crews from rescue missions.
As of Saturday afternoon, officials said they have completed between 200 to 300 rescues, with crews still checking door-to-door to ensure everyone is evacuated.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said another surge of water is expected overnight on the San Juan River after thunderstorms sent runoff from washes into the river. Additional neighborhoods are being evacuated as monitoring stations on the San Juan and Animas rivers have failed, according to the county’s Office of Emergency Management.
Officials are urging evacuees not to return home due to hidden flood dangers, emphasizing that there is currently no re-entry plan. Crews are continuing to assist with evacuations as many residents struggle with the possibility of losing their homes.
