RUIDOSO, N.M. – The Village of Ruidoso was hit by extreme flooding over the weekend, prompting evacuation orders. On Monday, some parts of Ruidoso were reopened.

The Cherokee Mobile Village was one of the spots that was hit the hardest in Ruidoso.

The swift water rescue team had to save 26 people Saturday and another 51 people Sunday. The National Guard also helped another 49 people get to safety Sunday.

Upper Canyon is still under an evacuation order as more rain could be on the way.

Kerry Gladden with the Village of Ruidoso is urging the community to take evacuation orders and closures seriously.

“We’re trying to keep that road closed up there. We’ve got people driving around the signs, but the reason we’re trying to keep people out of there is for safety reasons. You’ve seen the footage from over the weekend, and I wouldn’t want to be up there. And it’s very scary and treacherous. I get that, you know, these are these people’s homes, but your life safety is what’s most important to us,” said Kerry Gladden, a public information officer for the Village of Ruidoso.

Clean up efforts have been going on all day. At the Cherokee Mobile Village, crews have been out all day trying to clean up all the debris. They’ve also been handing out sandbags and water.

U.S. 70 is back open after getting covered with water. There are still some road closures at Cree Meadows, Wiley and Hull.

KOB 4 spoke to a family about how they feel after getting hit back to back with wildfires and now severe flooding.

“I was lucky the flooding came in the other way, so I was protected by the other houses that took the brunt of it. But the fast water here kinda took out everything underneath the house. So most of my utilities are all gone, all the plumbing got ripped out from under there, so it’s gonna be a while to get it all in. But I was fortunate the inside of the house was still dry,” said Tara Jensen, a Ruidoso resident. 

Like the rest of the community, Jensen is cleaning up after flash flooding Saturday and Sunday.

Gladden with the Village of Ruidoso says about 90% of the village has electricity, water and gas. Last week, those services weren’t fully up and running. Internet is still an issue and crews on working on getting that fixed.

“It’s been a lot, it’s like I don’t even know how to feel anymore. Just when we’re starting to feel safe again and settle back in here and things were getting back to normal. I just got internet turned back on OK we’re feeling alright and then outta nowhere it’s like we’re starting all over,” said Jensen. 

Local, tribal and federal agencies were out making sure residents can get back on track. 

The community can apply for grants through FEMA. Folks can go to White Mountain Relief Center on Hull Road or the Horton Complex on Service Road to sign up. People can also sign up on disasterassistance.gov.

We were told FEMA officials are separate from the ones assigned to the Calf Canyon’s/Hermits Peak grants.

Many New Mexicans are still waiting for those grants to come in. There’s no exact timeline for when South Fork and Salt Fire victims could receive their grants.