Storm causes major flooding in city

link Children and adults alike took to the flooded streets in the 1300 block of North Edwards Street near Dennis Chavez Park to wade, ride bicycles and swim Wednesday afternoon. Up to 4 inches of rain overnight Wednesday flooded many local streets.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Rains caused the Greene Acres Park pond to spill over a section of North Main Street and filled the football field behind Marshall Middle School.

Cars turned submarine, families being rescued by the Clovis Police Department and children swimming in the street. One would have to see it to believe it.

Clovis residents saw it all Wednesday morning as they marveled at 6 inches of water burying Main Street next to Greene Acres Park and the 6 feet of water not only submerging the pavement and sidewalks on 14th Street next to Dennis Chavez Park, but submerging a vehicle as well.

The flooding also prompted a rescheduling of the annual Smoke on the Water fireworks display. The event is now set to begin 6 p.m. Saturday at Greene Acres Park with fireworks being shot off about 9 p.m., according to the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce.

A chamber spokesperson said due to the postponement, the event will only include a fireworks display. There will be no live entertainment as in past years. The 5K fun run will still be held Friday as scheduled in downtown Clovis and the route will be updated due to the high water levels at Greene Acres Park,

The chamber announcement also noted times are subject to change and contingent on the weather and in the case of more inclement weather, the fireworks display will be postponed for later in the year in conjunction with another community event.

Clovis received 4.5 inches of rain in some places in the early morning hours, more than any other town in the region.

Neighborhood children swam across 14th Street on Wednesday afternoon, fully embracing the nature-made swimming pool, but residents in close proximity to the flooded area were not so gleeful.

Maria Barela said she was sure water was going to be coming into her home when she awoke at 6 a.m. to discover it up to her front porch.

“I was stressed. The water was about to come into my home and nobody would do anything about it,” she said, saying she called police dispatch, who could not assist her right away due to “problems all over town” regarding the flooding.

Barela said the city provided her with sand bags a short while later to block the water from her front door.

She said 14th Street in front of her house only flooded one other time 15 years or more ago, but was not as bad in the previous instance.

“I like the moisture, but not this time,” she said, laughing. “I hope we don’t get more rain (Wednesday night) because I’m gonna need more sandbags.”

Police Chief Steve Sanders said the Clovis Police Department rescued eight people from vehicles Wednesday morning, including a family of four on their way to Ruidoso from Houston.

He said people weren’t aware of the flooding situation they were driving into, adding that the same was likely the case with the vehicle abandoned in the middle of 14th Street to be lost under 6 to 8 feet of water.

Sanders said when police arrived on scene, the car was empty but it was too dangerous to move with a tow truck in such deep water, so the city was waiting for the water to go down.

“I think the last big storm that we had something like this was in 1988,” Sanders said. “But talking to other people, it sounds like this was not quite as bad as then. Raincoat and slickers were something that you didn’t have to have in Clovis (before).”

Jay Fisher, owner of Enchanted Spirits Studios, which sits in front of Dennis Chavez Park on Edwards and 14th Street, said all of the long-time residents he has talked to said they have never seen rain fall quite that fast in Clovis before.

He said his business got a half-inch to an inch of water inside of it, which damaged a small amount of carpet.

“The rain came down so fast that it couldn’t run out away from the building fast enough” Fisher said. “The damage was of no consequence. Let’s just hope it doesn’t keep raining.”

City Engineer Justin Howalt said the rain falling so quickly is also what caused Main Street to flood in the area of Greene Acres Park, despite a 36-inch pipe put in the park’s lake in 2002 to prevent the lake overflowing.

“When you have that much water that fast, the system just couldn’t keep up. It was overwhelmed,” Howalt said. “The pipe is only so big and can only hold so much water. When more water is flowing to the pipe than what the capacity of the pipe is, it will back up then drain slowly over time, which is what it is doing now.”

“For all intents and purposes, the (pipe) system is working,” Howalt added, saying that prior to 2002, the city would have had to pump water out of Main Street when it flooded.

Steve Reed, Curry County Road Department superintendent, said numerous county roads experienced flooding and wash outs but there were no dangerous situations or damage encountered.

“I would recommend, if at all possible, people stay on paved roads and caliche roads for now. If the sun stays shining tomorrow, the dirt roads will dry out quickly,” Reed said.

Chances of rain will trail off today and there will be a warming trend, according to the National Weather Service.

NWS officials said temperatures will be back in the 90s by Friday with little chance of precipitation.

Rainfall totals, according to the National Weather Service:

• Northwest of Clovis: 4.5 inches

• 3 miles west of Portales: 1.8 inches

• Portales: 1.1 inches

• 6 miles northeast of Tolar: 4.3 inches

• Friona: 1.22 inches

• Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge: 0.87 inches

• Bovina: 4 inches

The average rainfall in Clovis was 3 to 4 inches and 1 to 2 inches in Portales.

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