New Mexico authorities rescue hundreds after flooding strands many in high water and leaves 2 dead

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A southeastern New Mexico community began to dry out Monday after historic rainfall over the weekend produced severe flooding that left at least two people dead and hundreds stranded on rooftops.

Waterlogged vehicles were still submerged along some city streets in Roswell, while others were seen smashed along bridge supports and tossed up against trees and power poles after being swept away by the floodwaters on Saturday and Sunday.

All the standing water and mangled masses of twisted guardrails and splintered wood were scenes unfamiliar for the community. Surrounded by usually dusty plains and dairy farms, Roswell isn’t famous for any notable rainfall but rather for being the spot where a spacecraft purportedly crashed in 1947.

Less than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain usually falls in Roswell an average year, but forecasters with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said Monday that the weekend deluge was spurred by an upper-level low pressure system that was parked over Arizona.

“So the moisture just kept funneling and funneling and funneling up across eastern New Mexico,” meteorologist Jennifer Shoemake said. “They got multiple days of heavy rainfall and severe weather in that area because that storm system was just not moving.”

More than 300 people were rescued by the New Mexico National Guard, with 38 of those taken to hospitals for treatment of undisclosed injuries. New Mexico State Police said two people died as a result of the flash flood, but information on the victims or the circumstances of their deaths wasn’t immediately released.

Even Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington posted a video on social media in which he was standing on top of his vehicle surrounded by water. Herrington said he had to go to the roof of his vehicle when it and several other vehicles became stranded in water that rose up to the windows.

At the civic center, a birthday party was derailed Saturday when floodwaters began pouring onto the dance floor. At first, some people tried to keep dancing while Moises Torres and his band, La Fuerza Del Bravo, played on.

“It looked like we were going down like the Titanic,” he told The Associated Press.

As the water continued to rise, the guests rushed to the roof. Torres said he was hesitant to leave his band equipment behind, but as soon as the water reached the top of the stage, the band joined the party guests. Torres captured videos from the roof of floating cars in the rushing floodwaters.

“The water was dragging everything that was in the way,” he said.

The group huddled in the cold on the roof for several hours as the rain continued through the night, Torres said.

Rescue crews arrived around daybreak Sunday as the water receded. The group descended from the roof to find the civic center filled with mud.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared an emergency Monday in response to the flooding, clearing the way for $1 million in state funding to bolster relief efforts. She met with city officials who were charting the path for cleanup and recovery.

Roswell City Councilor Juliana Halvorson told the AP that despite warnings Saturday morning for the potential for severe weather later that day, no one was expecting the subsequent flooding. She has surveyed much of the damaged and noted that many homeowners don’t have flood insurance.

“There’s too much devastation to see in one day,” she said. “Some homes still have 4 or 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) of water or more. The water picked up cars and chunks of concrete, and those things are so heavy.”

Authorities were forced to close roads leading to and from the city on Sunday. Water levels have since receded in many areas.

Forecasters said 5.78 inches (about 14.7 centimeters) of rain fell on Roswell on Saturday, breaking the city’s previous daily record of 5.65 inches (about 14.6 centimeters) set on Nov. 1, 1901. Some areas surrounding Roswell received around 9 inches (22.9 centimeters) of rain in a matter of hours, according to the National Weather Service.

“It was a storm that just kept building and building south of town,” City Councilor Edward “Ed” Heldenbrand said. “It was never anticipated that it would rain for five hours.”

He spent part of Monday morning driving around to check on some property he owns.

“Roads damaged. Bridges damaged. Fences down. Vehicles piled up everywhere. A cargo container overturned next to car,” he said. “An unbelievable picture of destruction.”

Berry reported from Phoenix. AP journalist Beatrice Dupuy contributed from New York.

This image provided by Tom Hudgens shows flooding in Roswell, N.M., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tom Hudgens via AP)

This image provided by Tom Hudgens shows damage caused by flooding in Roswell, N.M., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tom Hudgens via AP)

This image provided by Tom Hudgens shows flooding in Roswell, N.M., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tom Hudgens via AP)

This image provided by Tom Hudgens shows flooding in Roswell, N.M., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tom Hudgens via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

This image provided by Tom Hudgens shows the aftermath of flooding in Roswell, N.M., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Tom Hudgens via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, a man removes debris from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

In this image taken from video, debris and damage and are seen from severe flooding in Roswell, N.M., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Juliana Halvorson via AP)

An Israeli strike in Gaza killed at least eight people from the same family, most of them women and children, Palestinian medics said Tuesday.

The strike late Monday hit a house in Gaza City’s central neighborhood of Daraj, according to the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service.

Among the bodies recovered from the rubble were a father and his three children, and the children’s grandmother, according to a casualty list obtained by The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.

Israeli bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians over the past 14 months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry’s tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but it says more than of half the dead were women and children.

Israel launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, around 100 of whom remain in captivity.

Here's the latest:

LONDON — British diplomats have met the leader of the militant group that toppled Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Photographs posted by the group on social media showed senior officials, including the U.K. special representative for Syria, Ann Snow, meeting Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Mohammed al-Golani, in Damascus on Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed Monday that Britain had sent “a delegation of senior U.K. officials to Damascus this week for meetings with the new Syrian authorities and members of civil society groups.”

Britain, along with the U.S. and other countries, classifies HTS, a former al-Qaida affiliate, as a terrorist organization. U.K. officials have suggested they may reconsider that designation, but have not given a timeline. They say British officials can still talk to HST in the meantime.

In an interview with the Times of London newspaper, Al-Sharaa urged the West to lift sanctions and said Israel should stop its strikes on Syria.

“We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks,” he was quoted as saying. “The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions.”

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike in Gaza killed at least eight people from the same family, most of them women and children, Palestinian medics said Tuesday.

The strike late Monday hit a house in Gaza City’s central neighborhood of Daraj, according to the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of eight people including two women and four children from under the rubble, it said. Among the dead were a father and his three children, and the children’s grandmother, according to a casualty list obtained by The Associated Press.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.

BERLIN — Germany says its diplomats will hold their first talks on Tuesday with the new Syrian government installed by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS.

The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said the talks will center on an “inclusive transition process” in Syria and the protection of minorities. The German delegation also plans to sound out the possibility of a German diplomatic presence in Damascus, and will meet representatives of Christian communities among others.

The ministry said in a statement that “we know where HTS comes from and know its origins in al-Qaida ideology,” and said that Germany is watching the activities of the group and the interim government closely.

“As far as can be said at all at this point, they are acting prudently so far,” it added. “Like our international partners, we will measure them by their actions. Any cooperation requires that ethnic and religious minorities be protected and women’s rights respected.”

The U.S. has already said that its officials have been in direct contact with HTS.

Germany has been a leading destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.

DAMASCUS, Syria — A U.S.-backed force in Syria says U.S.-led mediation efforts have failed to reach a permanent truce in Syria's north between the force's fighters and Turkish-backed gunmen.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the failure to end the fighting in the northern areas of Manbij and Kobani were unsuccessful due to Turkey’s unwillingness to accept key points.

“Despite U.S. efforts to stop the war, Turkey and its mercenary militias have continued to escalate over the last period,” the SDF said.

The failure of the mediation is expected to lead to a new round of fighting between the SDF and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army in the areas of Kobani.

CAIRO — The U.S. military on Tuesday said it bombed a Houthi military facility in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, the latest U.S.-led attack on the Iranian-backed rebels.

The Houthi media office said the strike hit part of the sprawling complex that houses the rebels’ Defense Ministry. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

U.S. Central Command said the strike late Monday targeted a key command and control facility that was “a hub for coordinating Houthi operations,” including attacks on U.S. Navy and merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started in October last year. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign, which has killed four sailors.

The rebels have maintained that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

Monday’s U.S. strike came hours after the Houthis said they fired a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Israel. The Houthi missile triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile outside Israel’s borders. However, shrapnel that the military said was likely from an Israeli interceptor missile fell on the roof of a home in east Jerusalem.

A Palestinian, wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, arrives at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians, wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, receive treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)