Construction crew gets caught in deadly Ruidoso floods

RUIDOSO, New Mexico (KVIA) – Ramon Nieto and his crew were in Ruidoso to fix what was left of a house from last year's floods. On Tuesday, when it started raining Nieto didn't think much of it, but as he looked around he saw the river start to rise quickly.

Nieto then parked his vehicle and his crews vehicles to higher ground. When he got back to the house the water was up to his knees.

"I tied the curtains to the tree because the water was up to the second deck, and, so we got up there and started hanging on to the trees," said Nieto, "it was just a dramatic experience because, it had took everything."

The water had risen quickly, Nieto and his crew fearing for their lives.

"What about my mom, my sister, my guys families? What would they have done with if they lost us? You know, I mean, we didn't know what to do there," Nieto told ABC-7.

Nieto and his crew made it out alive and unscathed. Yet, their work they had done on the house ruined. Nieto said there had been at least 50 thousand dollars worth of work done on the house. Now he's taken ten steps back.

"There's really no point in rebuilding."

Nieto spoke to the owner of the house, who said that's exactly what they'll do. Once the rains pass, work will begin again.