Cleanup Begins In Saturated, Muddied El Paso Area

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Emergency crews braced for the possibility of a fourth straight day of storms Wednesday as cleanup crews started the task of removing standing water and mud from roads, homes and businesses.

The storms stopped early Wednesday morning, with no reports of major mudslides or injuries, said El Paso police Lt. Edward Kleinhans. Scattered showers in the desert city remained in the forecast, but the chance of heavy rain had diminished, said Tim Brice of the National Weather Service in nearby Santa Teresa, N.M.

“It’s looking like we’ve transitioned back into the normal monsoon season,” Brice said.

But the danger isn’t gone. Any significant rainfall could cause more flooding in a normally parched region saturated by three consecutive days of heavy showers. The official count is 7 inches of rain for the year, almost all of it in the last few weeks, but some parts of El Paso, particularly the west side, have been inundated by almost of a foot in the last five days, officials said.

“It’s just been one hit after another,” said El Paso County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rick Glancey. “I feel like I’m in a boxing ring without any gloves.”

Area residents and business owners began Wednesday trying to clear standing water and thick mud covering streets and the first floors of businesses and homes.

Staff Sgt. John Colleng of the National Guard said soldiers were deployed Wednesday morning to neighboring cities Socorro and Vinton to help residents get back into their homes, make sandbags and help with “whatever is necessary.” State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said the Guard troops were part of Operation Jumpstart, President Bush’s immigration-related plan to secure the border.

Authorities said at least 60 people were rescued Tuesday, some standing on the tops of roofs and their cars. Near the base of the Franklin Mountains, where the water level reached waist-high, neighbors worked to dig a long trench through muddied front yards in an attempt to keep the floodwaters moving.

The Red Cross opened several shelters, spokesman Mark Matthys said. He said less than 500 people arrived at the shelters Tuesday.

The massive storm all but shut down El Paso on Tuesday and caused widespread flooding, saturated mountainsides and collapsed rock walls. The normally placid Rio Grande was moving at twice its normal speed, although it receded Tuesday night, officials said.

The state declared El Paso a disaster area.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-08-02-06 1345EDT