Kansas, N. Mexico Struck by Heavy Rains, Flooding
A rain-swollen Kansas river rose four feet in one hour, forcing 100 residents to flee their homes Friday, while heavy thunderstorms across New Mexico washed out bridges, closed roads and took the life of one woman.
Officials at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado closed the 11,000-foot-high Trail Ridge Road for the winter after snowplows failed to bust seven-foot drifts.
The Whitewater River in Augusta, Kan., fed by up to five inches of rain, was more than 30 feet deep and rising. Flood stage is 21 feet, officials said.
Disaster Areas
Gov. John Carlin declared the southeast Kansas counties of Butler, Lyon and Sedgwick disaster areas and ordered the National Guard to help with evacuations and sandbagging in Butler County--the site of the state’s worst flooding.
In New Mexico, runoff from the thunderstorms washed out five bridges in Ruidoso, blocked roads in the south-central mountains and was blamed for the death of one woman.
A resident at the Fort Stanton Hospital and Training School near Ruidoso, a state facility for the developmentally disabled, apparently fell into the Rio Bonito when the river bank gave way.
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