By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-09-30 19:07:05 | Updated at 2026-09-30 21:36:34
17 hours ago
Evacuation orders have been issued in towns around Doña Ana County, New Mexico, as heavy showers threaten the integrity of an earthen dam meant to prevent flash floods.
The village of Hatch received an evacuation order on Tuesday after waters began to overwhelm the McLeod Dam, a.k.a. Garfield Dam, with conditions expected to worsen, per the Albuquerque Journal:
Earlier notices from the county “strongly encouraged” residents of agricultural communities in Salem, Garfield and Rincon, north of Las Cruces, to seek safer ground as the McLeod Dam (known locally as the Garfield Dam) showed signs of potential failure.
Residents were urged to gather medications and limited essentials, as well as pets, and make their way south to the Radium Springs Community Center at 12060 Lindbeck Road, the Doña Ana Community Resource Center, 5745 Ledesma Drive, in Las Cruces, or other safe locations while avoiding flooded roads and low-water crossings. Travelers were encouraged to use Interstate 25 as the safest route.
The village of Hatch has a population of between 1,500 and 1,600 people.
“Residents should not wait until conditions worsen to evacuate,” the evacuation notice said.
Video of overflowing waters at McLeod Dam went viral on Tuesday, with at least one driver losing control along the flooded highway.
According to KFOX, Dona Ana County later said that McLeod Dam had a “very small piping failure, that has since been mitigated.
“No water is exiting from the dam at this point,” officials added. “Pumps are en route to the structure to pump water out downstream and alleviate pressure on the dam.”
When it comes to the Rio Grande, county officials confirmed that the river overtopped its banks.
“The Rio Grande River banks in low-lying areas along the river corridor typically overtops in those specific areas. At this time there is no reason for us to believe that the levy itself has been compromised,” officials said.
