Officials warned that McLeod Dam is in imminent danger of breaching, according to KOAT. Streams overflowed and water swept through farmland in Dona Ana County, catching residents off guard after a dry stretch that had left the region desperate for rain.
Alessandra Analis, a farmer in Garfield, said her family's crops were underwater by Wednesday. Her fields sit near McLeod Dam.
"We've been waiting for water, waiting for water all year, and I don't think anyone expected it to come all at once, especially in one day," Analis said.
For farmers like Analis, the flooding wipes out crops that depended on water that never came in smaller, steadier doses. Families in Hatch, Rincon, and Garfield had to leave home with a dam still threatening to give way nearby. Emergency crews are watching McLeod Dam closely, and anyone downstream faces the possibility of even worse flooding if it fails.
A year of drought turned into a single day of ruin for farmers who spent months praying for exactly what finally arrived.