{"id":482,"date":"2006-08-21T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-21T14:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/a-firsthand-account-of-the-devastation-in-hatch\/"},"modified":"2006-08-21T08:06:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-21T14:06:00","slug":"a-firsthand-account-of-the-devastation-in-hatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/a-firsthand-account-of-the-devastation-in-hatch\/","title":{"rendered":"A firsthand account of the devastation in Hatch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson will formally ask President Bush today to declare Hatch a federal disaster area and free up emergency money to help the town recover from Tuesday\u2019s flooding. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

His request is sorely needed. I spent Sunday afternoon in Hatch, and it\u2019s devastated.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

State and federal officials toured Hatch Friday afternoon to assess the damage. According to the governor\u2019s office, some 402 homes have been affected in the town, which has a population of about 1,600. A few homes and one apartment complex were destroyed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s request, which you can read more about by clicking here<\/a>, will also include all of Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename>, so that damage in the communities of Sunland<\/st1:placename> Park<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> and Chaparral from less severe flooding can also be addressed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A federal declaration is essential for one reason: State emergency money by law can only be used to repair public infrastructure. Though the state has already offered money, it can\u2019t be used to repair damaged homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A federal declaration would make home owners, business owners and renters eligible for aid that could include temporary housing, repair or replacement of homes, medical costs, household items and cleanup.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the people need. On Sunday afternoon a few guys and I helped a woman clean the mud out of her apartment. Judging by the line on her walls, the water rose more than a foot in her home. There was a layer of goopy mud covering the floor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We emptied the furniture and appliances from the kitchen and living room and began cleaning only to find that the linoleum in the kitchen probably needs removed to get at mud that is underneath it, and the hardwood floor in the living room is seriously damaged from being wet for several days.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The stove and the apartment\u2019s electrical system may also be damaged.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The couches were soaked. The bottoms of drapes in the windows were soggy and muddy. Many personal items were covered in mud.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Such damage is widespread. Parts of the town were, at times on Tuesday, under several feet of water.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Puddles and ponds remain, some of them taking over street intersections and others surrounding mobile homes. One mobile home we worked at was surrounded by water that was still several inches deep.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

While removing debris from underneath that home, I came across several framed photographs and an album. Though the frames were damaged, many of the photos were not. They didn\u2019t belong to the residents of that home.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Where did they come from? All I could do was leave them in plain site and hope their owner found them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There is filth everywhere. Flies are all over the place. Mosquitoes are surely breeding. Many roads remain closed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The good news is that there are many volunteers. In addition to those who worked with the American Red Cross, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had dozens of volunteers from Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> working in Hatch on Sunday.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to take quite some time to rebuild this town.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the flash flood warning for this area has been extended through Tuesday.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

If you want to help, call the Salvation Army at (505) 524-4713 or the Red Cross at (505) 526-2631. You can find more information from the Red Cross at www.swnmredcross.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Richardson will formally ask President Bush today to declare Hatch a federal disaster area and free up emergency money to help the town recover from Tuesday\u2019s flooding. His request is sorely needed. I spent Sunday afternoon in Hatch, and it\u2019s devastated. State and federal officials toured Hatch Friday afternoon to assess the damage. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}