Update On The Roswell, New Mexico Flash Flooding! - Eustace Conway (Mountain Men) 10,000 to 30,000 Dead In Western North Carolina From Hurricane Helene's Flooding?

Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

My cover photo is courtesy of Juliana Schaffer Halvorson in Roswell, NM.

Justin Powell is the Fire Chief for the small farm/dairy community of Dexter, New Mexico. Dexter is located 12 miles southeast of Roswell and has a population of around 1,000. He posted his comments (below) on his Facebook page this morning.

I’m including his thoughts to show the human side of all of us during tragedies. Justin and his team are heroes! So are all of the other Firefighters, Law Enforcement Personnel, EMS, National Guard Troops, volunteers, and everyone else who has helped and continues to help during this catastrophic, and historical flood event in the Roswell, Dexter, Midway, East Grand Plains, and Hagerman areas. Pray for the people of these devastated communities. Their lives will never be the same.

This is who we are as Americans. We don’t run from trouble we run to it and deal with it. I don’t want to get political with this stack, but multiple troubles are coming to America in the days ahead because of the election. Because of this, we are going to need each other more than ever. It will be a time of testing but together we will prevail.

Where We Go One We Go All (WWG1WGA).

From Justin Powell- The Dexter, New Mexico Fire Chief via his Facebook page.

Little bit of info in a very long post… here’s what I can share for today…
The picture I used I stole from Karen StaceyErwin.  It best sums up all the events currently happening.  I have seen this devastation first hand and there are no words to really say it all. 

First of all I have been at a loss for words like many others. It’s been a long and emotional few days. I’ve been praised, chewed out, questioned, thanked, and about any other emotion that could be felt by everyone. So let me give a little insight to my own thoughts and to some information that may help out our communities. 

First I am talking as a fellow citizen, a fire chief, a city councilor, and an emotionally and physically tired human being. I honestly have been so busy that I haven’t had time to update anything. I will talk about today’s meetings and explain what we as a town and as citizens can do. However I want to back up to the beginning of this horrific event and share some of my personal insight and experiences. 

This is my personal feelings here so do not hold anyone accountable besides me.  If you disagree that’s fine, but I know what I heard, saw and experienced. So…bear with me. 
 
What I want to run through are the events through my eyes and hopefully answer some questions that some may have. It was a lovely typical Saturday night for us here in Dexter. Kassandra had left for work after we talked about all the rain that had happened all afternoon west of Dexter and up through Roswell. We knew there was flooding potential in Roswell but we never dreamed of all the events that would unfold. Kamila and I laid there reading her book and listening to my radio. Poor Roswell was getting hammered with rain and a multitude of emergency calls.

I was listening but not overly concerned until the voices in some of the Fire and EMS personnel began to change. From there it was just the beginning of a gigantic nightmare that was unfolding. I listened as law enforcement, fire and EMS were literally getting so many calls for service (amongst us all about 600) within the night and following day) that they couldn’t even keep up. I was mind blown wondering what we could do to help and wondered when we would get called to go to Roswell. I knew Sierra, Berrendo and East Grand Plains were out in full force with RPD, RFD, CCSO, State Police, NM Game and Fish and honestly I am sure there were more.  What these first responders were facing was horrific.

Making decisions that were best for that current situation and using every bit of common sense, collaboration, training, expertise and knowledge they had. I also listened to our dispatchers taking about 30 calls a minute, trying to prioritize, dispatch, keep track of everyone on the radios and yet…remain as calm as possible. How they do it I will never know…if you think you can do better…they are hiring.  Anyway I want you to remeber not a single one of any of our first responders have ever been faced with what was happening.

Our emergency manager was notified, all dept heads from every city and county agency imaginable were called as well as notifying state agencies. Resources from surrounding counties were ordered and so many things happening that most never know about.  This was all happening very early on Saturday night.  Soon we learned of flooding in Midway and were requested to respond to assist with rescues there.  I am not going to lie, I never expected what we were about to get into. Midway Fire and EMS was working as fast as they could to rescue trapped motorists who were on the roofs of their cars, roofs of houses, in trees and everywhere else you can think of. 

This was an insane situation because the exact same scenario was also taking place in Roswell. Vehicles being swept away, people swept away, so many rescues and it seemed unreal. I also want you to know that employees from every department within the city of Roswell and Chaves County were all heading to work to assist in any capacity. Water dept, street dept, sewer, all off duty fire, law enforcement, EMS..you name it… everyone went. Risking life and personal property to assist citizens. 

All these people, no matter what department they come from, were there serving the public.  These are hero’s fighting a “storm” and “flood” that no one knows just how bad it’s fixing to be. Now we have the situation unfolding in Midway and the situation is intensifying at a super fast pace. Midway called and we began getting our resources ready to help them. We grabbed our life vests and all the ropes we could find and headed north.

We reached Tim Fuller about Vista Largo and state road 2 or somewhere in that area. Anyone who knows him, he’s the calmest person ever. He gave us a run down and we started helping him reach more and more victims. There were people on roofs, in trees and generally all over. The water was freezing cold and rising so high it was over the railroad tracks and literally covering full size pickups.

Never in any sort of crazy dream, could a person make this up.  The same type of flooding in Roswell had now made its way to Midway.  We called our emergency manager and let her know the situation and started working on more rescue equipment and other resources. The National Guard had been activated as well. We mad a call for swift water rescue from Carlsbad FD and already had Lincoln County OES on the way.  We knew this was way beyond what anyone could handle. We also knew  that this was reality and not TV, so it was going to take time to get more help. We rescued as many as we could reach safely and we told so many people to stay put and not try to drive or get out in this rapidly rising, swift moving water.

Several people were not understanding this decision. What we know, is that if you’re in your house or on the roof, that means you’re not being swept away where we don’t know you even exist or take the chance of drowning. Yes we made this decision a lot and we also knew we would have to live with any decisions we make. Again, we make the best possible decisions for the situations at hand. If you are wondering why or think you can make better decisions in split seconds, all agencies (law enforcement, fire EMS and etc..) are hiring. 

Keep in mind all these personnel are humans and doing their absolute best to keep you safe or save your life.  We are also not exempt from the haunting memories if we lose someone. And it happened during some of these rescues.  You try your best and can’t reach someone quick enough or they just got swept away in the water is not something we want to live with. Now we as first responders, no matter what patch is on your sleeve, will second guess and live that moment forever.  You should be extremely thankful and grateful for all of the ones out trying to save the public every day of the year.
   
Keep in mind it’s only about 11pm on Saturday night… while the majority of people are asleep in the valley, things are going to get crazy for us. About 1115ish, we get reports of vehicles being swept off the road in the area of state road 2 and Shuswap. That’s south of greenfield.  What??? From where ?   Why?  How?? It didn’t rain here! Before we knew what happened there, we lost one of our own fire trucks to the swift water. 

While trying to get to some vehicles that had been swept off the road and up on the railroad tracks, it took one of our trucks and quickly trapped our personnel inside. The water was up over the hood of a lifted brush truck.

Knowing we already had victims in other vehicles was nerve racking but now it had first responders trapped as well. The Carlsbad Fire swift water team was diverted to help rescue all these victims with us. We also learned that the Felix River was over flowing both 285 and state road 2.

Never in my life have I heard of this nor could I fathom what was happening here in our valley. It took a long time to reach and extricate all the victims from this location. We had loaders and tractors assisting us (Emmanuel Regalado and Steven Foster), as well as the water rescue team. It was challenging because the water was overflowing the railroad tracks and one car was actually up and over the east side of the tracks. We tried to access them but the tracks themselves had been washed out and were just dangling. It was complicated but all got out safely. 

As if this was not stressful enough, there’s more to come…

We then learned of reports of flooding here in Dexter on the west side.  Honestly I have not ever seen that really happen and was skeptical. We were met by feet of water making the turn at the post office and it was rising and flowing extremely fast. I called my mom who was at my house watching Kamila while I was out in this mess and said get her and get out now. Thankfully she was able to escape and get to her house. I was still not prepared for the next several hours. We lost one fire truck in Midway and one down on Shuswap, so we re grouped and got different trucks and began answering calls here in town. As with all the other incidents in Roswell, Midway and other parts of the county, we had to prioritize and leave people in place. 

I know I made people mad or upset but we were now isolated and could not go North, South, or West. Most people don’t understand that yes you may be wet at home but I can not stress enough how dangerous it is to be out in that rushing water. I know because I too was washed down here in my own street. It was super cold, super fast and I was holding on to the truck. It was not safe for anyone. We checked on priority calls and on calls we could actually reach as we could. We were just a hand full of us here because everyone else was already committed or not able to reach us. 

We knew the best place for people was their own home.  What no one really knew was happening, we were experiencing first hand out in the streets. There was so much water that it was now pouring over the tracks to the east side of town and we were afraid it would wash the tracks away and cause more damages, flooding and issues to that side. 

We went through the night street by street trying to get to any injured persons and persons in higher need of emergent care. We did what we could. We took some to the FD to get inside and some to the elementary school as the dawn of Sunday rolled in. The water had not receded and people were waking up here discovering their houses were full of water, the streets running 4-5’ deep and some of their cars had washed away as well.

I know lots of people were scared and lost, not knowing what to do. I know because I too had a house full of water and was in complete shock as well. It’s a hard thing to face…reality that your whole life has been demolished or ruined. Wondering what to do or what’s next. 

Almost every one of us out all night doing what we do, lived on that side of town and lost as much as everyone else. So we do feel your pain. We are facing the same problems and issues. All night Saturday turned into all day Sunday and we still kept going. Hoping and waiting for the water to go away. Through the day we started getting more help, Jimmy Rodriguez got the monster truck, some loaders and added to all the others who had been helping get people off their sheds, roofs cars and everywhere else. 

There were so many offers to help and many tractors just showed up. That’s one of the perks of small communities.
  
As down as a person can be, knowing that you’re probably going to have to start all over with everything in your house, the little communities always get it done! As things transitioned into Monday it officially started clean up mode for most. People came home to see the destruction and start cleaning and putting some sort of normal back together.

What I wish people could see and know is all the miracles that took place Monday. I know maybe I am delusional because I hadn’t slept much but I am amazed and proud of the kindness, generosity, outpouring help from complete strangers and just in awe of how this community is.

Everyone helping everyone, huge Vactor trucks showing up to help suck out the mud and water from homes, people bringing loaders and trailers, dump trucks and everything to help people throw trash out. It’s just an amazing site to look down a street and see three or four vehicles wide with people helping each other, checking on each other, delivering food, sandwiches, you name it…it was happening. Just unbelievable. This town should be proud and know that it’s not going un noticed. I know I am extremely proud of my team of volunteers at Dexter Fire & Rescue and of the entire community of Dexter.
 
Today I was part of a meeting with the governor, cabinet secretaries, and other officials at the local, county and state levels. I can not tell you how much praise was passed to the first responders, city and county workers and to the citizens of Chaves County. Everyone who spoke and gave any sort of information or update was so impressed with the instant team work that happened from the beginning till now.

It was expressed how well we here in this county work so close and flawless, how much support the communities have for each other and them selves and how this is how NM should all be. I will admit I was skeptical at first, but also I am surprised at the state level for all the support and work they are doing for us. Ron, Regina, James and I all spoke on behalf of Dexter and all questions were answered and received well. I can say with confidence that they (state) are actually on top of this as much as can be at this time. 
 
I also know that no one has flood insurance, me included, and it’s part of life at this point. We will have to clean up and move on and it’s not anyone’s responsibility but our own. Adulting….it sucks sometimes lol. But no government entity is really responsible for our losses. We do however have some resources at state and federal levels that can assist us.

The county (Bill Williams) was on top of this disaster from the start. A declaration was issued Sunday morning to cover all of Chaves County to include Roswell and Dexter as well. That put the ball rolling and the state (governor) also declared an emergency. So we do have a lot of resources coming in but will take a little bit.

What I want everyone to know and think about is we are a small community with a very small infrastructure. We don’t have huge budgets or money to throw. I’m not saying anyone does, but we all work together to solve big problems. And this is definitely a situation in which the county and state are helping us with here in Dexter. There will most likely be federal money coming as well, but we have a lot of guidelines to follow and dollar amounts of infrastructure damage to meet first. It’s complicated… but we are all working to get things done. It’s very important that you know we are not just sitting back doing nothing as a town. There are tons of things happening and coming. 

We should have 20 big metal trash containers coming Tuesday if it all goes according to plan. They are being brought in from Lincoln County and various places. Waste management will also be bringing a couple. They will be at the sports complex or at the baseball/softballl field parking lot. Possibly both, but the majority will be at the baseball parking lot.  

We have good drinking water. No need to boil. Our wells are un affected.  We have good sewer and sanitation services. Once the flood water died down, the lift stations got caught up and that system is working great. We do have one water line broke, however city maintenance crews placed an extra valve across Zubi draw to make sure all residents had water. We are working to get debris such as limbs, rocks and etc off road ways. We also have outside resources available now as needed form the state. 
 
There will be teams of people assessing damages. The state and FEMA will start making door to door assessments in the next few days. You are not obligated to talk to them, that is up to you if you want or need assistance. There is a number that is active and should be manned within the next couple of days to call and schedule to start a claim with the state. That number is already circulating social media but is not manned quite yet. It is 1-833-663-4736.

It will probably be manned by Tuesday afternoon-ish. This will help speed up a claim if you call them. There is also state assistance for small business owners that may need any assistance with things such as paying employees and etc…. The declarations free up grants or low/no interest loans for businesses.  
There was much more discussed in the meeting and we did learn there are a lot of avenues and things happening.

There was NO levee or breach of any dams. It was just a ton of rain in short time frames and the water had no where to go. Several officials got to fly the areas today and look at the levees and everything is holding and we should not be worried of any breaches or breaks. Officials also say that the Pecos River should not be rising any more than it is right now. There is no expected release of water from anything on stream and the surges are spaced out and should not rise any more.  

There is a huge influx of law enforcement from the state police to neighboring counties to help local law enforcement for the next days to come. This will help during clean up and to answer calls for service as well. This also includes fire and EMS from other counties assisting Roswell and Chaves County, so those out of town emergency vehicles are all here to help you too. 

Joanna Rodriguez has posted about donations of supplies and etc… I spoke to her about handling this. We had a special council meeting tonight as well to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything or overlooking anything.  We have had so many generous people wishing to help and honestly I don’t know how to get that done yet. Joanna is taking the lead and I will get some info together and we will get a game plan on Tuesday.  Mostly needed items are going to be diapers, toiletries, towels and household items that got ruined.  We will put something together and pass that along as soon as we figure it out. 
 
Lastly just know we are not just sitting by doing nothing. The town is making sure we keep day to day things going, working with other county and state agencies and officials to get trash taken care of and clean up processes done.

This won’t be a one day job. This is going to take a  long time to recover from. Many have to completely rip out all walls and etc… What I saw today and all the neighbors, friends and family helping was amazing. Know we are all united and we will all get through this. If there are emergent needs let me know so I can see what resources we have to help.  As a community we can pretty much do anything!  

Stay strong and may God Bless.

This YouTube video is the best one that I have been able to find so far. It is a drone flight over the bridge over the Rio Felix normally a dry arroyo on State Hwy 2 near Hagerman. And the bridge on the Rio Felix on US Hwy 285 between Roswell and Artesia in southern Chaves County. Shot yesterday.

Note the water line on the Rio Felix in the fields and banks of the arroyo by the bridge on US Hwy 285. I'm 66 years old and have lived in Eddy County all of my life. I've never seen a water line this high on the Rio Felix. I'm told that the flood waters topped the Rio Felix near Hagerman by at least three feet. That's a first as far as I know. Both of these bridges were constructed with the thought that they never would be overtopped by flood waters.

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Update on the Western North Carolina Catastrophic Flooding From Hurricane Helene.

Eustace Conway who starred on the History Channel’s hit series “Mountain Men” says the mainstream media is not telling us the truth about the death toll in western North Carolina. He claims that there may be 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people dead! I could be wrong but I seriously doubt that this man would be saying this if he didn’t know what he was talking about. I pray that I am wrong.

The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction!

WWG1WGA - Where We Go One We Go All!

You Want The Truth, You Can’t Handle The Truth!

There Are None So Blind As Those Who "Will - Not" To See!

You Can’t Wake Up - If You Don’t Know That You Are Asleep