By Mike Smith
El Rito Media
msmith@currentargus.com

Elisa Begueria woke up Sunday (Oct. 20) morning to flooding in her neighborhood and concerns for Roswell and Lake Arthur.

“The amount of water was just spectacular,” she said. “I have never seen anything like that in my life.”

Begueria is a Roswell resident and superintendent of Lake Arthur Municipal Schools (LAMS), a small rural district in far southern Chaves County.

A torrential downpour on Saturday (Oct. 19) had dumped nearly 6 inches of rain on Roswell, breaking a record set in 1901, and Begueria said the water in her north Roswell neighborhood seemed like a river. The flooding caused multiple road closures and left people stranded on Sunday.

Begueria said her house was not damaged by the flooding, but she was worried about her fellow residents and LAMS employees and started checking on their safety and welfare.

“We have teachers in Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman and Artesia and some of our staff work and live in Lake Arthur,” she said. “My whole job Sunday morning was to call those in need.”

She said LAMS personnel residing in Dexter suffered the most damage from the floods. The school district canceled classes on Monday.

In a Facebook post, Dexter Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Chief Justin Powell said flood waters hit the west side of town and flowed east of the railroad tracks into the heart of the community.

He said houses were full of water, cars were swept away and water was nearly 5 feet deep on some streets.

While Lake Arthur did not see immediate impact from the flooding, Begueria said she was concerned about rising waters in the Pecos River.

A U.S. Geological Survey monitoring location cited river water at 20 feet Sunday night. Water started receding Monday morning.

Bill Pollard, a farmer in Lake Arthur, drove six miles Monday morning for breakfast at Toby’s Place in Hagerman. He has lived around Lake Arthur for 70 years and had never seen flood waters reach such high levels.

“It backed out of the river (and flooded) all over the farm,” he said.

Pollard farms 150 acres northeast of Lake Arthur.

Water flow from the Pecos River originates in northern New Mexico and flows through southeast New Mexico into Texas.

Flood waters wiped out the Rio Feliz Bridge along U.S. Highway 285 between Artesia and Roswell and filled the normally dry Felix River north of Hagerman, flooding nearby farmland.

The town of Hagerman did not suffer flood damage, said Fire Chief Chad Hamill.

Hagerman resident Benny Griffin has lived in the community since 1989 and said he did not venture anywhere on Sunday.

“I couldn’t get anywhere,” he said. “I live east of the river. If had to go anywhere I would have to go east and go around to Loco Hills, Maljamar or Tatum.”

Mike Smith can be reached by phone at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com.