Adrian Hedden
Ruidoso News
ahedden@elritomedia.com

Ruidoso still grappling with stalled relief funding, lingering flood risk

Threats of another deluge floated through a battered Ruidoso, a week after an historic, deadly flood engulfed the village and killed three people amid the scenic Sacramento Mountains.

With heavy rain still in the forecast this week, the community continued to rebuild and await government support for relief efforts.

In addition to the damage and destruction inflicted on countless homes, businesses and other structures, the flooding claimed three lives.

Among the dead were 7-year-old Sebastian Trotter and his 4-year-old sister, Charlotte Trotter, who were swept into the rampaging Rio Ruidoso from the Riverview RV Park in the middle of town where they were camping with their family.

Their parents, Stephanie and Sebastian Trotter, were severely injured, while the family’s German Shepard Ellie and husky Zeus died in the raging waters. A second German Sheppard, Lily, was spared in a rare moment of mercy.

Stephanie Trotter was discharged from a hospital as of Tuesday and was back home recuperating in El Paso, according to a GoFundMe page set up by family members. Sebastian Trotter, a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, remained in the hospital, the page read, unable to walk with no feeling in his legs.

The latest report showed about $216,000 had been raised by the page, exceeding a goal of $200,000.

Less is known about a third flood fatality, an adult male identified as Benjamin Timothy Feagin, who perished in the area of the RV park on July 8.

All three bodies were recovered far downstream, as the river surged to an historic high of 20 feet, surpassing last year’s record of 15 feet set during a perilous flood along the burn scar of the South Fork and Salt fires.

At least 400 homes were damaged in last week’s flooding, while 65 people were rescued, according to the most recent estimates, and five animals were killed.

The risk of more flooding continued as a flash flood warning was put in effect Monday, although the rains that followed failed to produce the same level of devastation, according to the National Weather Service. The potential for rain remained throughout the week and weekend.

Emergency managers said Monday that three roads were flooded and unusable Monday afternoon including Cedar Creek Drive and Main Road and U.S. Highway 70, which was closed in the southern part of town.

The Village of Ruidoso also reported “rapidly rising” floodwaters in the Brady Canyon and Upper Canyon areas Monday evening on Facebook. Gavilan Canyon was temporarily closed but reopened at 3:30 p.m. Monday as the water appeared to subside.

That relief could only be temporary, as heavy rainfall was predicted for the rest of the week and into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

On Thursday, a 70% chance of rain was reported, declining slightly to a 50% to 20% chance by nightfall, but rising to 70% on Friday and 50% on Saturday, according to the Weather Service.

Flood warnings were in effect throughout the week along the Ruidoso area burn scars, where the South Fork and Salt fires burned more than 25,000 acres last year, read a Monday warning, along with the South-Central Mountains, Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, Alto, Glencoe and Hollywood.

“This is a life-threatening situation. Heavy rainfall will cause extensive and severe flash flooding of creeks, streams and ditches in the South Fork Burn Scar. Severe debris flows can also be anticipated across roads. Roads and driveways may be washed away in places. If you encounter flood waters, climb to safety,” read the warning.

‘Every dollar necessary’

Like last year, the Ruidoso Downs Race Track was plunged under water by floods, meaning this year’s horse racing season would be moved to Albuquerque Downs, potentially affecting $160 million in local economic impact, according to Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford.

That put about 300 to 400 jobs at risk, he said.

And a week later, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s request for federal disaster relief went mostly unfulfilled, although the Federal Emergency Management Agency did unlock some funds through an “emergency declaration” for immediate life-saving efforts and first response two days after the July 8 flood.

Federal funds to repair and replace destroyed housing, medical expenses for those injured or displaced, emergency supplies, temporary housing and transitional housing were still under review from the governor’s request, according to a news release from Lujan Grisham’s office.

“This federal declaration is a critical first step, but it’s not everything Ruidoso needs and deserves,” Lujan Grisham said. “We will continue working with the federal government for every dollar and resource necessary to help this resilient community fully recover from these devastating floods.”

She also sought reimbursement for debris removal in Lincoln, Otero and Chaves counties, along with repairs for roads and bridges, water control facilities, public utilities and parks and recreational installations.

Lujan Grisham’s office was working with FEMA and the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to assess and document the damage, the release read.

To rally for more support, New Mexico’s two U.S. senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, took a tour of the flood-damaged area on Friday, July 11, meeting with local officials and assessing the damage for themselves.

Heinrich and Lujan were joined by U.S. Reps. Gabe Vasquez, Teresa Leger Fernandez and Melanie Stansbury in a joint statement demanding a “major disaster declaration” that would unlock federal funds for Ruidoso to aid in the post-flood relief efforts.

“We’re grateful that this (emergency declaration) approval will unlock funding needed for immediate disaster response, and we will continue to push President Trump to grant the state’s Major Disaster Declaration request to make sure that all New Mexicans impacted by this disaster are provided with the federal support necessary to rebuild,” the lawmakers said.

But federal funds could be hard to access, even if the dollars are allocated to Ruidoso. The day before the flood, on July 7, Mayor Crawford told state lawmakers the village still had not received much of the money appropriated by the state last year, following the devastation caused by the South Fork and Salt fires.

In a special session focused on public safety last July, lawmakers failed to pass a series of bills pushed by Lujan Grisham to target crime and mental health but approved House Bill 1 to allow $100 million in state money be provided to Ruidoso for relief projects approved by FEMA. The state dollars would be paid back once federal funds kicked in.

But Crawford, addressing the Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee during a meeting at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, said the process of obtaining FEMA approval turned out to be extremely complicated, full of delays and unseen pitfalls with changes of agency heads and other complications.

His comments were in response to questions by lawmakers as to why Crawford was advocating for more state funds for Ruidoso relief when only “a few million” of the HB 1 funds were so far approved.

“Well, the reason we haven’t spent it is that we can’t get to it,” Crawford said during the meeting. “So, if we start contracting and spending that money down when it’s not approved by FEMA, we won’t be able to pay the state back and I take my village into bankruptcy with a $30 million debt.”

The Trump administration had not indicated as of Monday if any additional federal requests would be fulfilled. The president and first lady Melania Trump visited the sight of another deadly flood Saturday, July 12, about 540 miles southeast of Ruidoso in Kerrville, Texas.

That flood caused the deaths of more than 130 people, according to ABC News, when the Guadalupe River overflowed after a torrential downpour.

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Mike Smith
El Rito Media
msmith@currentargus.com

Celebrating its 80th year, the Eddy County Fair will get underway Tuesday, July 22, and run through July 26 at the Eddy County Fairgrounds, 3402 S. 13th St. in Artesia.

The festivities will kick off with a 10 a.m. parade starting at the Bulldog Bowl at the corner of Grand Avenue and 16th Street and traveling east on Main Street through downtown Artesia to Roselawn Avenue.

Along with the core activities of the fair – display and judging of area youths’ livestock and horticultural exhibits and the annual 4-H/FFA junior livestock auction – the event will feature concerts, rodeo events and a carnival midway with rides, games and food.

Among the musical highlights will be a July 25 concert featuring popular country music singer Chris Young, who will take the stage at 9 p.m.

Young’s performance follows Smokin’ Hot Bull Riding, with bull riders competing for prize money and a championship belt buckle. The competition gets under way at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 23, is Faith and Family Night featuring performances by gospel music groups the Rhett Walker Band and Unspoken during a communitywide church service at 8 p.m.

Admission to the fair is free. Concert tickets can be purchased online. More information can be found on the fair website – eddycountyfair.com

Here is a rundown of daily activities at the fair:

July 22

10 a.m. Parade through downtown Artesia.

12 p.m. Official opening at the Exhibit Building and Eddy County Community Center.

3 p.m. Dairy heifer show-livestock show ring.

5 p.m. Carnival.

6 p.m. Breeding and market goat show, livestock barn show ring.

July 23

8 a.m. Rabbit show, livestock barn show ring.

9 a.m. Project yearling class, livestock barn show ring.

9 a.m. Flower show, Eddy County Community Center.

10 a.m. Exhibit Building and Community Center open to public.

2 p.m. 2-year-old futurity, covered arena.

5 p.m. Swine show, livestock barn show ring.

5 p.m. Carnival.

8 p.m. Faith and Family Night concert.

July 24

8 a.m. Broiler show, livestock barn show ring. Broiler poultry and ducks will be judged after broiler show.

9 a.m.-12 p.m. Horticulture entries will be taken at Community Center.

10 a.m. Exhibit Building and Community Center open to the public.

1 p.m. Flower show entries will be judged.

3 p.m. Breeding sheep show, livestock barn show ring. Market sheep show to follow.

5 p.m. Carnival.

July 25

8 a.m.-10 a.m. All sale pulls and destinations must be finalized.

10 a.m. Exhibit Building and Community Center open to the public.

Noon-1:30 p.m. Pecan contest entries accepted.

2 p.m. 4-H and FFA awards presentation, livestock barn show ring.

4 p.m. Wool lead show, livestock barn show ring.

6 p.m. Pecan contest auction, livestock barn show ring.

7 p.m. Bull riding, Artesia Horse Council Arena.

9 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Chris Young concert.

July 26

8 a.m.-12 p.m. Fire and Ice, covered arena.

8 a.m. Booster shows for swine, lamb, goat, market cattle and dairy heifers, livestock barn arena.

10 a.m. Exhibit Building and Community Center open.

10 a.m.-12 p.m. Jack Rauch anvil toss, covered arena.

10 a.m.-12 p.m. Cornhole tournament, covered arena

10 a.m.-midnight: Carnival.

Noon: Fire and Ice awards, covered arena.

4 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Buyer’s dinner, covered pavilion.

5 p.m. 4-H and FFA junior livestock auction, livestock barn show ring.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 extension-2361.

El Rito Media News Services

Makamy Anderson’s death is the most recent among children in the state’s care

On May 16, 17-year-old Makamy Sage Anderson took her own life at a home assigned to her by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department.

Makamy, who was pregnant at the time of her death, is one of four youths to die under CYFD’s watch since April.

Makamy’s case worker had asked for help finding mental health providers in the area, according to the documents obtained by Searchlight. The documents do not say whether she received those services.

Before taking her life, she wrote “Do not save me” on her arm, the documents say.

Details about Makamy’s life are scarce at this stage. Foster and adoptive parents, counselors and relatives who knew her did not respond to requests to speak to a reporter for this story.

Case files obtained by Searchlight show that Makamy was struggling in the weeks before her death. She was upset about having to leave her home community in southeastern New Mexico for foster placements, and was specifically unhappy about being sent to stay in CYFD office buildings, where the department often sends children to sleep when case workers can’t find a suitable foster home. In late April, she was taken from a CYFD office to Springer, a 5½ hour drive from her hometown of Hobbs. She died there three weeks later.

A memorial service was held for Makamy in Hobbs in early June. She leaves behind a boyfriend and at least one sibling.

“She was a couch surfer, she bounced from house to house,” said Randy Pettigrew, a Republican state representative from Lea County who has had access to CYFD documentation on Makany’s case. “She had a multitude of office stays. She was listed as a runaway multiple times” while dealing with significant mental health challenges, he said. At least one of the foster homes she was assigned to was not properly licensed by CYFD, Pettigrew said.

Makamy’s case worker had asked for help finding mental health providers in the area, according to the documents obtained by Searchlight. The documents do not say whether she received those services.

Before taking her life, she wrote “Do not save me” on her arm, the documents say.

CYFD declined to comment on Makamy’s death, saying in an email that because the case “is still under active investigation, it would be premature for CYFD to respond at this time.”

‘A vicious cycle’ harming foster youth

The tragedy comes as CYFD faces scathing criticism from state legislators, who say the agency has failed to protect New Mexico’s most vulnerable children. In the most recent session, lawmakers passed several significant bills aimed at increasing oversight and transparency at the agency.

Much of the criticism centers on the agency’s lack of progress in fulfilling promises it made under the 2020 settlement of the Kevin S. lawsuit, a class action suit which claimed the state’s child welfare system was “locking New Mexico’s foster children into a vicious cycle of declining physical, mental and behavioral health.”

As part of that settlement, CYFD agreed to stop housing its foster youth in group settings and to provide them with adequate mental health care. But the department has failed year after year to meet its commitments to those promises, according to independent monitors— failures that were highlighted yet again in an arbitration hearing last week.

Instead, CYFD has continued to house children with serious mental and behavioral health needs in youth homeless shelters and its office buildings, where they have been sexually assaulted, injured by armed guards and exposed to fentanyl and other drugs.

Those placements have been particularly harmful for teenagers like Makamy. A 2022 investigation by Searchlight and ProPublica found that many teens in foster care — a group that CYFD has an especially hard time placing in stable homes — spend their teenage years shuffling between shelters and offices without receiving adequate mental health services. These teenagers experience drastic declines in their mental health amid such instability, often culminating in violent outbursts, suicide attempts and other crises.

In two episodes now, which happened barely a month apart, teenagers who had been repeatedly shuffled through offices and shelters have died by suicide. In April, Jaydun Garcia, a 16-year-old who was beloved by his peers in foster care, took his life at a makeshift home in Albuquerque for youth who lack foster placements. Two other children involved with CYFD, both of them infants, have died since June.

“I’m profoundly sad, we should all be profoundly sad, that we’ve seen two children in state custody take their own lives because they felt so hopeless and so alone,” said Maralyn Beck, executive director of New Mexico Child First Network, a foster care advocacy organization. “I don’t think there’s any problem facing New Mexico that’s more serious, with life-altering consequences, than the crisis that is our child protective services.”

Garcia’s death prompted intense outcry among advocates, attorneys and legislators — as well as an investigation by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. A spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Justice, the agency overseen by Torrez, said that investigators are currently examining Makamy Anderson’s death as well.

“We are aware of the recent tragic incident involving a young individual in Springer, New Mexico,” Lauren Rodriguez, chief of staff at the department, said in an email to Searchlight. “Our office is actively reviewing the circumstances surrounding this case. We urge anyone with information about the individual’s history or events leading up to their death to contact the New Mexico Department of Justice.”

Dave Tomlin
For the Ruidoso News

Kaitlyn Carpenter was on the riverside balcony at Downshift Brewing Co. June 8 watching the roiling Ruidoso River surge past when she suddenly saw a house surfing along in the flood.

While everybody around her was shouting “Oh, my god,” Carpenter grabbed her phone and a long moment of Internet fame.

Her video, scarcely a minute long, became the worldwide poster footage for the massive flash flooding that tore through Midtown last week. The clip scored millions of online views and appeared on multiple news networks.

Coincidentally, Carpenter is in the news business. She is an advertising account executive with The Ruidoso News.

She is the mother of a 17-year old , Jaden, captain of the Mescalero basketball team, a painter, and a painting instructor.

“I had no idea it would get so much attention,” Carpenter said Monday at the end of the “silver fitness” exercise class she leads at the Ruidoso Athletic Club.

Apparently thinking the roomful of senior citizens still needed to get their heart rates up a little higher, she offered to screen her real-life disaster movie right then and there.

Everyone in the room had already seen it, probably more than once, but nobody left as Carpenter cued it up on a giant flat panel usually reserved for inspiring spinning classes or women’s aerobics.

One reason Carpenter was startled into action with her iPhone so quickly at Downshift is that she knew the home’s owner and recognized the dwelling, even as it heaved, rotated and plunged in the fast-moving muddy water. Nobody was inside at the time.

She told her exercise class that the house hadn’t traveled far when she spotted it. Its address was 125 Fern Trail, just a few hundred yards or so upstream from where it entered the frame of Carpenter’s phone camera.

Fern Trail, which runs from just east of Mechem Drive and the bridge at N. Eagle Drive, used to be a lovely neighborhood of shaded and secluded riverside cottages running parallel to Sudderth Drive.

After last year’s flash floods fueled by runoff down the Upper, Perk and Brady canyons from the South Fork burn scar, and more of the same this month, the enclave is a muddy ruin.

Owners of the properties along the river’s banks, now one fewer, are chafing over the time it’s taking authorities to determine its future. But the future will have to wait for the end of the present. Flood watches continue almost daily.

Todd Fuqua
Current-Argus
tfuqua@elritomedia.com

RUIDOSO – One week after the most destructive flood in Ruidoso’s history, the area continues to brace for further flooding from rains on the South Fork burn scar on Monday, as warnings were issued by the National Weather Service.

While more rain fell on the South Fork fire burn scar and high waters were reported along Cedar Creek, Brady Canyon and in the Upper Canyon area, the water did not overflow the Ruidoso River’s banks, according to Kerry Gladden, media relations director for the Village of Ruidoso.

A flood warning was also issued for the Tularosa Canyon area, near the Mescalero Tribal offices.

These warnings came just days after New Mexico’s U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan were given a tour of the worst-affected areas, from the Upper Canyon to Ruidoso Downs Racetrack.

The driving tour on July 11 included Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford, village councilors Rafael Salas, Joseph Eby, Susan Lutterman, Darren Hooker, Village Emergency Manager Eric Quellar, Village Manager Ron Sena, Lincoln County Commission Chair Mark Fischer and Lincoln County Manager Jason Burns.

Heinrich and Lujan expressed their commitment to seeing the area receive all the funding and planning it needs to recover from the July 8 flooding – and prevent such disasters in the future.

“When you see the videos that were posted, that alone was incredible, but you don’t get a sense of depth across the watershed and across the community,” Heinrich said. “To be here on the ground and see the scale of what needs to be rebuilt gives you a sense that we’re going to be in this for the long term.”

The flooding left three dead, 7-year-old Sebastian Trotter and his 4-year-old sister Charlotte Trotter, as well as an adult male identified as Benjamin Timothy Feagin. All were swept into the water from the Riverview RV Park at 640 Sudderth Drive.

The deceased children’s parents, Sebastian and Stephanie Trotter, were injured and treated in an El Paso hospital. Stephanie was released as of Monday, while Sebastian, a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, is being transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

The latest estimates from Emergency Management indicate as many as 200 homes were damaged or destroyed by Tuesday’s flooding, with that number likely to rise as officials continue surveying the area.

Mayor Lynn Crawford told reporters at a news briefing at the Village Emergency Operations Center on July 9 that several other people were hurt badly enough that they had to be hospitalized at Lincoln County Medical Center. He said all were in stable condition Wednesday morning.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday requested and was granted a partial federal disaster declaration, mobilizing resources through the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) for life-saving measures and immediate recovery.

Additional requests made by the governor for relief funds to pay for rebuilding homes and other properties in Ruidoso, along with temporary housing, supplies and debris removal are still under review.

According to Gladden, officials in Ruidoso are still on the phone daily with federal officials and the governor’s office, working every angle they can to get full federal disaster recognition to open up maximum FEMA funding.

During their visits, neither Heinrich nor Lujan stated specifically what steps they plan to take to address the flooding issues.

The damage seen during the driving tour was stark. In the Upper Canyon, where spires of chimneys remain as the only remnants of homes that once stood among clear-cut hills, mud and debris had cut through the remaining structures along the river and road crews toiled to fix bridges and clear roads torn up by the violence of the deluge.

Officials also saw the devastation at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack, where floodwaters crested at 20 feet and flooded the entire infield, track and barn area, forcing the track to close and move the remainder of its race meet to Albuquerque Downs.

Sen. Lujan said the flooding is a reminder that fires and floods go hand in hand, and that the two should be viewed as a single event.

“Looking at how FEMA has looked at these situations, it’s clear to see that we need to amend a chapter in the FEMA charter that combines fire and flood,” Lujan said. “It’s also a matter of years, not just one year. When the fire and flood first happens, you might get some waivers and support that first period. But then next year there’s another flood and there’s a whole other study and they treat it like it’s a different event, but this is one event, and that’s how it should be treated.”

Tuesday’s flood was the result of rains that fell on the burn scar from the 2024 South Fork fire, with the ground unable to absorb the rushing water. The flooding surpassed even last year’s devastating floods that followed the South Fork and Salt fires.

“As someone who is a former engineer,” Heinrich said, “I can see that we need laws in place to build to where we are now, not just rebuild what was there before. This watershed has changed, the climate has changed, and we need to build something that can survive the floods we’re seeing.”

Todd Fuqua is Assistant Editor for the Alamogordo News and can be reached on Instagram at @toadfox1.