(TNS) - Elaine Padilla drove her pickup truck slowly through the new path of the Rio Chama, which as of last week was through the middle of her property. She drove the length of her narrow strip of land, making sure to stay on what used to be the gravel road. Much of her property — including a handful of cars, a propane tank, a shed, a chicken coop and one side of her mobile home — was sitting in more than a foot of water.
"I just don't know what to think," she said Tuesday, her voice on the verge of going hoarse. "What to do." Her dog Rocky waded faithfully through the water, following her truck.
When Padilla reached the back of her property she gestured toward a long stretch of dry sand and silt. "That was the river!" Padilla said. Padilla is one of more than a dozen residents of the small Rio Arriba County community who awoke on Wednesday morning to find the river had redirected and flooded their properties, causing damage to crops, pasture, septic tanks, water wells and housing.
The flooding emergency in Medanales came while other natural disasters throughout the state — such as flooding in Las Vegas, N.M. and fires in Ruidoso — have spurred evacuations and wreaked havoc, gripping state officials' attention.
Eric Martinez, who lives on a ranch down the street from Padilla, said Tuesday 10 acres of his farmland was still underwater as the Rio Chama flowed across his pasture and back down into the riverbed. Martinez, who farms his land in Medanales in addition to wo.