Heavy Rains Lead To Evacuations, Rescues In El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Families evacuated to emergency shelters and streets resembled whitewater rafting rivers as heavy rains threatened to collapse buildings while continuing to drench the dry El Paso region Tuesday.

A third straight day of showers saturated mountainside homes, caused walls to collapse in the softened ground and closed portions of major roadways. Emergency crews juggled an onslaught of distress calls, but there were no reports of major injuries.

Authorities said at least 60 people had been rescued, 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 flood waters moving.

Officials said they were concerned about the threat of mudslides and scrambled to rescue more residents Tuesday afternoon before another intense round of showers moved into the region.

“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.”

The Red Cross opened four shelters and were considering opening six more for emergency purposes, spokesman Mark Matthys said. He said less than 500 people had arrived at the shelters Tuesday evening.

The rain more than doubled the normal current speed in the Rio Grande and raised the water level near the banks on both sides, authorities said. Flooded streets forced city and county leaders to close offices throughout the area, including city hall. Nonessential employees of the city and Fort Bliss were ordered home by noon.

There has been no official declaration of disaster, but Gov. Rick Perry deployed 20 5-ton trucks from the Texas Army National Guard to the area and made arrangements to provide more if needed.

The parched region, which had less than an inch of rain in the first six months of the year, has possibly received as many as 6 inches since Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters expect the rain to last through at least Wednesday morning.

With tears streaming down her face, Rosa Reyes rode in the back of a pickup truck with plastic bags full of clothes and anything else she could save from her rented duplex.

Reyes was given five minutes to evacuate with her 6-year-old daughter and a neighboring family after a rock wall behind her home collapsed during a torrential morning storm. The tumbling wall punched a hole in the side of a house.

“The material things can be replaced,” she said. “It sure didn’t feel like five minutes.”

A small apartment complex on a hill above Reyes’ home was in danger of collapsing and had to be evacuated, said Capt. Keith Burch of the El Paso Fire Department. Utilities were shut off in the complex, Burch said.

Streets resembled lakes and fast-moving rivers, and fire officials said they were worried about boulders and other debris falling from rocky cliffs around several El Paso neighborhoods.

A surge of water rushed toward the vehicle of Lt. Col. Keitron Todd as he drove to work at Fort Bliss Tuesday morning, he said.

“It wasn’t a tidal wave but this gush of water – this muddy water,” Todd said, adding that he immediately pulled into a driveway and the surge reached him seconds later.

The water line was about 3 feet on the outside and 2 feet inside of his two-story, tan stucco house. The water receded but left thick muddy residue all over the first floor at the home of the married father of two.

El Paso Fire Lt. Mario Hernandez said widespread flooding was reported across the city and its outlying areas. Off-duty personnel have been called in to work to ensure that enough crews are available to respond to the volume of emergency calls, he said.

An El Paso senior center was converted into a shelter as officials prepared to accept elderly homeowners who evacuated from 14 homes threatened by the floodwaters, said Vivian Rojas, a resident relations specialist with the city’s housing authority.

Drivers were warned to stay off local roadways, many of which are flooded or have been closed by emergency crews.

City officials activated the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of El Paso City Hall downtown.

El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Eduardo Placencia said his agency also has been overwhelmed with emergency calls about flooding. Volunteer fire departments around the county have been busy helping area residents sandbag their homes and in some cases evacuate.

The situation in Mexico was equally bad Tuesday and prompted Juarez Mayor Hector Murguia Lardizabal to declare the city in a state of emergency. Fearing that the Rio Grande would overflow, he ordered city personnel to evacuate city offices.

The river did overflow in some areas and dikes were broken by the pounding rain.

Authorities started evacuating more than 1,000 families who live in the high risk southern areas of Juarez. Five city gyms were being used as shelters for the residents, said Civil Protection spokesman Oscar Rene Nieto Burciaga.

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

AP-NY-08-01-06 2004EDT