Las Cruces area in damage clean-up mode after powerful storm

(Editor's note: Use the scroller in the module above to view video and photos of the storm damage.)

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — Residents in the Las Cruces area were picking up the pieces Monday, a day after a powerful storm left a trail of toppled trees, washed out roads and damaged homes.

Crews around the city were hauling away massive trees and other debris. There were seven downed trees reported on the New Mexico State University campus, including one that fell on a golf cart and sent two people to the hospital with minor injuries. Meanwhile, two large mesquite trees were uprooted at the Farm and Ranch Museum in Las Cruces.

Steven Aragon's home also suffered extensive damage as winds around southern New Mexico, from Las Cruces to Santa Teresa, were as high as 80 to 90 miles per hour. His Las Cruces home, built in the 1970s, had its roof blown off and a porch torn away.

"I was thinking 'is there a tornado happening?' Those winds were coming in hard," he told ABC-7, adding "I'm just glad that my kids, my wife and myself are all safe and nobody got hurt. I know it looks bad but I'm just glad nobody got hurt."

The Sunday evening storm originated in the Roswell and Clovis areas but then picked up steam over the Sacramento Mountains, according to the National Weather Service. The result was a massive storm system that brought powerful winds and rain. It walloped Las Cruces sometime after 7 p.m. before moving on to El Paso.

The weather also led the New Mexico Department of Transportation to shut down U.S. 70 at San Augustin Pass. The stretch from NASA Road to the entrance of White Sands Missile Range was expected to stay closed as cleanup from mudslides continued.

It wasn't just rain and wind wreaking havoc in places. A dust storm also hit east of Lordsburg Sunday night, causing a pile-up on Interstate 10. Hail was reported south of Cloudcroft, Alamogordo and in west El Paso.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)