La Union residents recovering from heavy storms

Residents in La Union, N.M., are recovering from heavy storms last week.

The evidence of the heavy downpour can be seen throughout the area.

Roads are washed out. Homes are damaged.

The concrete sidewalk around one home was chipped away by the water.

Many residents are hoping the rain will keep its distance so they can recover.

“Yesterday I was getting ready to go for my walk, getting back to normal again, and it started raining a little. I was like, ‘please, Lord, no more,” said Evangelina Martinez, a La Union resident.

For days Martinez has been cleaning up the damage from the storm.

“Everything was so crazy on that day. We were trying to get rid of water in our homes,” she told ABC-7.

Martinez said water was racing through her front yard. She and her husband dug a trench trying to control the flow.

“We had water rushing like rivers. You could hear it rushing like rivers but thank god we were safe,” she said.

Water seeped into vents along her home and went under the house. All she can do now is wait for it to dry out.

“Trying to recuperate a life we had a few days before the dam broke,” Martinez said.

For Martinez, that means feeding the hummingbirds and walking the dog.

“We are very blessed by what we have here,” Martinez said.

Water and sewage services have been restored to the area — another sign things are returning to normal.