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Millions in federal dollars going to southern New Mexico for fire and flood recovery
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Southern New Mexico communities recovering from last year’s fires and flooding will get a $137 million boost in federal funds.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $12 billion in disaster recovery grants Tuesday. The 47 grant recipients include the state of New Mexico, which will get $137 million to help Roswell and Chaves County rebuild after destructive flooding and to help Lincoln and Otero counties recover from the devastating South Fork and Salt fires.
The city of Roswell has at least $260 million in damages from deadly October flooding, according to Roswell Mayor Tim Jennings.
“You had people that had most of their family possessions in their house out on the curb,” Jennings said. Many of the older parts of Roswell were devastated and State Police blamed the flooding for two deaths.
Roswell’s civic center and adult center flooded, and water flowed at least four and a half feet deep in the city’s Roswell Museum, which is likely facing $135 million in losses, Jennings said.
About an hour and a half drive west, the village of Ruidoso was devastated by June fires and subsequent flooding.
Together, the South Fork and Salt Fires threatened more than 7,000 homes in the area of Ruidoso, Alto and Ruidoso Downs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency fire profile. The South Fork Fire burned 17,500 acres, while the Salt Fire burned 8,000 acres. At least two people died due to the South Fork Fire, according to previous Journal coverage.
The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will develop a plan for how to spend the millions with input from the affected communities, said Danielle Silva, the department’s communications director. The department aims to execute that plan by late fall or early winter, she said.
The millions were appropriated by Congress in a December government funding bill, which also averted a Christmas-time federal government shutdown.
“This funding will address the unmet disaster recovery needs in areas most impacted and distressed by these major disasters,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, said in a statement.
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“Communities affected by the South Fork and Salt Fires and the severe flooding that followed deserve to have all of the resources they need to make a full recovery,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, said in a statement.
Additional disaster dollars
New Mexico’s state legislature approved a $100 million emergency relief package during its summer special session for 2024 disaster recovery, including up to $70 million in zero-interest loans for the Ruidoso area as well as funds for the Mescalero Apache Tribe and two state agencies for wildfire recovery efforts.
“Gov. (Michelle) Lujan Grisham welcomes any and all federal assistance to New Mexico in the aftermath of these natural disasters, and she is thankful for HUD’s commitment to helping Ruidoso and surrounding communities rebuild,” said the governor’s spokesman Michael Coleman.
Victims of the 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fires will also get money from the December federal government funding bill to the tune of $1.5 billion. Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire recovery funding is allocated in a unique way compared to other disasters. Congress created a specific fund to help Northern New Mexico recover from the fire, largely because the federal government was responsible for setting that fire.
A business resiliency center in the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak burn scar area funded by a $4 million HUD grant is expected to open by the middle of the year, Silva said.
