Santa Fe has picked up 53 tons of material along the stretch traveled by a tornado Saturday evening in the midtown area.
The clean-up cost to the city so far has been $700,000, according to city spokesperson Peter Olson. That includes everything from dumpsters to staff salaries.
Santa Fe residents are still reeling from the rare metro-area tornado, which damaged at least 10 homes primarily around Camino Chueco and Rancho Siringo Road, though that number may rise, as at least 650 homes were in the affected area, Olson said.
The tornado tore off roofs and damaged walls, spreading insulation into neighbors’ yards, along with other damage to homes. It knocked over trees, blew over outdoor furniture and damaged utility poles in the area.
A resident, David Sanchez, told The New Mexican on Sunday his lights flashed and electricity went “haywire” before he heard a sound he compared to a jet engine as the tornado went through his backyard.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican
“I think it is quite the miracle that no one who was directly impacted by the tornado was injured or worse,” City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said Wednesday.
Sunday morning, family, friends and others joined city employees to help the impacted residents start cleaning up. The community response was not lost on city councilors, who spent a good chunk of Wednesday’s meeting thanking the city employees and ordinary citizens who jumped into action over the weekend to help their neighbors.
“It was very heartwarming to see that response,” said City Councilor Liz Barrett, who said a tree fell on her family’s house.
“That’s what makes Santa Fe so special,” said Mayor Michael Garcia. “Disasters should not have to bring that out, but it definitely brought it out this weekend.”
Unexpectedly intense
The level of damage stood out even to professional meteorologists.
Warning coordination meteorologist Scott Overpeck performed the damage assessment for the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office. He was struck by the level of damage posed by the relatively short-lived tornado, he said.
“It was a lot more intense than what we expected from radar and some of the other surveys that we’ve done,” Overpeck said.
Saturday night’s tornado was the result of the right combination of moisture, energy and the atmosphere to get thunderstorms, plus a sudden change in wind speed or direction with height, Overpeck said. Santa Fe County was not under a tornado watch or even a severe thunderstorm watch — though one was in place just south of the county — at the time.
Tornado watches indicate conditions could lead to tornadoes forming, while warnings are issued when a tornado is spotted or indicated by radar.
Some people on social media questioned the timing of Saturday’s tornado warning, which the National Weather Service issued at 7:01 p.m. — one minute after the tornado touched down. It spun up quickly, Overpeck said, and the agency issued the alert as soon as it was detectable on radar.
“There can be a little bit of latency as the warning goes from our office to through all the different channels to get out to the people, get to the cellphones,” Overpeck said. “So it does take generally less than a minute, but that’s still going to give the perception that, ‘Hey, it’s hitting or it’s here and I’m getting the warning at the same time,’ so it just happened to be one of those situations.”
Tornadoes are not very common in New Mexico, and they’re particularly rare in Santa Fe. Overpeck said only five others have hit the metro area since 1950.
But, he noted, “we also know that these conditions do occur in the fall.”
The weather service determined the tornado had max wind speeds of around 110 mph, putting it at a high-level EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale adopted in 2007. Its path took it from near Via Caballero to the old College of Santa Fe campus, with a max width of around 100 yards. It touched down at 7 p.m. and ended at 7:08 p.m. after traveling about 1.5 miles.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican
More storms coming
On Monday, Garcia declared a natural disaster emergency to allow the city to leverage additional support measures. The City Council voted Wednesday night to extend it through Nov. 5.
In the tornado-affected area, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance and the American Red Cross have been going door to door and assessing homes. The Red Cross had assessed about 25 homes as of Wednesday, and six residents had received financial assistance, Olson said.
The state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, meanwhile, had assessed 15 homes, five of which reported major damage or were destroyed.
Another series of storm systems is expected to impact New Mexico from Thursday through late Monday, bringing a risk of flash flooding that could hinder recovery in parts of the state hit hard by severe weather earlier this month.
Storms Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon will be focused in southeastern New Mexico, including Roswell and Ruidoso. Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, they will move through Western New Mexico, focusing over the southwestern mountains. Flash flooding will be possible both days.
Sunday through Monday, storms will spread statewide, bringing the potential for flash flooding and river flooding to Western and Northern New Mexico. Mountain snow is also possible.
Santa Fe County is urging residents to prepare for the prospect of flash flooding. Residents should consider taking a pre-storm walk with their neighbors to help clear leaves, trash and yard debris from curb inlets, ditches and culverts, the county said in a news release.
Residents can report flooding or impassable roads to the Regional Emergency Communications Center nonemergency line at 505-428-3710.
Nathan Brown and Carina Julig of The New Mexican contributed.
Lily Alexander is a state accountability reporter for The New Mexican and Searchlight New Mexico, focusing on equity and transparency. Her position is part of the New Mexican Public Service Journalism Fund, and her stories are available to all readers without a paywall.
