Community Chat

[On It]

@Imaoldhippie  We are in Southern New Mexico in the Lincoln National Forest On June 17,  two forest fires forced the evacuation of our village. 500 homes were burned in the village and another 1400 structures were destroyed in Lincoln County which surrounds the village. Then the monsoon season began and brought devastating floods from the burn scars. 

We have frequent flooding from these burn scars, but the one I posted about was especially intense. Over 200 additional homes have been lost to flood waters inside the village, but our home is safe. These floods are flash floods moving quickly and approaching as a wall of water.

[Imaoldhippie]

@On It ..............Im glad your home, you and your family are safe.  How devastating.  Thanks for the reply.

[On It]

A peaceful afternoon to end the week.

[ROMARY]

Wishing for many more peaceful weeks.

If you have any tips as to where to live in a community, in general, please let us know.

On a hill?, away from 'this and that', etc. 

I'm guessing there is a lot to learn (in general) about terrain before moving to a new place. 

Take good care and I'm sending good, safe  wishes to all in your area.

[On It]

@ROMARY We know this area well. The flood prone areas are to be avoided in any locale. Realtor dot com has a feature I checked for every property. Midway down the description page is Flood Risk. There are official maps of flood zones as well. We wanted a property in the canyon area along the river but decided the risk was not worth taking.

I don't have any rules about selecting a location. A wildfire changes the rules. The ground is baked and crystallized. Water cannot penetrate. It runs off any slope as you see in my original photo. Flood zone maps are irrelevant. Every path, ditch, street, or driveway carries runoff.

To complicate issues, access during winter months with snowfall has to be considered.

[On It]

@monicakm The flood waters are carried away quickly. The debris brought by the water has to be cleared before roads can be opened. Sometimes it is an hour or so. Other times take longer particularly if the road is damaged.

In my responses above this post I explained in detail. Travel routes become more of an inconvenience for us. For those in narrow canyons, it becomes an impossibility. 

[tupelohonee]

Prayers for you & all in your area @On It .