Man dies after being swept into Santa Fe River amid heavy rains

May 19—A man died after falling into the Santa Fe River in the city's downtown area late Friday morning, when heavy flows from rain showers swept him downstream to the historic village of Agua Fría.

Santa Fe firefighters pulled his body from the river near the intersection of West Alameda Street and El Rancho Road, city spokeswoman Kristine Bustos-Milhelcic said. She did not identify the man and said she was uncertain of his age or where he was from.

A witness reported seeing the man fall into the river near Guadalupe Street, she said.

"Preliminary reports note the male was standing by the river and slipped on the mud and fell into the river," Bustos-Milhelcic said, adding Santa Fe police and the state Office of the Medical Investigator are investigating the incident.

Storms expected to last through the weekend also brought flooding to businesses and homes in Española and concerns of flash flooding in Northern New Mexico's mountain communities lying in and near the burn scar from last year's historic Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire.

The more than 530-square-mile area scorched by the blaze, which is still recovering from last year's fire and floods, and recently was shaken by the Las Tusas Fire, has been placed under a weekendlong flood watch, according to a news release from the Santa Fe National Forest. Residents are being asked to monitor weather forecasts due to "increased risk of flooding in streams, creeks and washes within areas that have burned recently."

Clay Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said there is a good chance the burn scar area will see thunderstorms through the weekend. However, he added, there was "limited activity" there as of midafternoon Friday.

"[This is] mainly due to the atmosphere being a little bit more stable than what we were looking at yesterday, and the fact that there was a bunch of rain overnight kind of helped stabilize that area," Anderson said.

He said there was a limited threat of flash flooding in Santa Fe and Española.

"If we thought Española and Santa Fe had a particular threat for flash flooding, we would currently have a flash flood watch up. We don't, but it is something to monitor as we go into the weekend," he said.

Still, Española residents were feeling the effects of floodwaters Friday.

Kenneth Varela, owner of Ken'z Cuisine, said his business partner arrived at Blue Heron Brewery on Friday morning to find 4 to 6 inches of water throughout the building.

Varela's restaurant sells Italian food, steak and seafood in partnership with the brewery.

"It's a major mess," Varela said. "It has flooded before, but not as bad as this. ... We have a graduation party tomorrow and a lot of other stuff going on this weekend. Obviously, we've lost business for tonight."

The city of Española set up a site at La Joya Street and Camino Arbolera for residents to fill up sandbags to help hold off floodwaters, city Emergency Management Director Jeff Sargent said.

"We will be leaving that location open for people to get what they need to protect their home and property," Sargent said, adding city officials think there could be sporadic flooding as rain continues through the weekend.

Española police Chief Mizel Garcia said there was minor flooding at the police station on Riverside Drive. His department received calls about people's yards being flooded, but otherwise officers did not respond to any reports of significant flooding, he said.

"Pretty much our calls haven't changed. We're kind of dealing with our own stuff at our building. We're trying to address that," Garcia said.

Santa Fe County firefighters responded to a vehicle stuck in floodwaters around 1:15 p.m. near the intersection of N.M. 76 and County Road 100, Fire Chief Jacob Black wrote in an email. One person was safely rescued from the vehicle.

Melissa McDonald, the city of Santa Fe's Parks and Open Space Division director, said the Santa Fe River, like many area waterways, is "running higher than normal with the recent rains."

As June's monsoons approach, "we are going to be seeing increased flows, so we want to be very careful around a river or an arroyo," McDonald said.

"If it's raining upstream, it may not be raining where you are, so all of a sudden you have a wall of water rushing at you," she added.

She said the city division has a new river ranger crew patrolling areas along the river and reminding people of the dangers involved with rising, fast-flowing waters.

National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Guyer said a gauge near La Cienega showed the Santa Fe River at about 15 inches Friday afternoon.

The weather service's "Turn Around, Don't Drown" safety campaign says 6 inches of moving water can knock a person down, he noted, while 2 feet "is enough to carry away a vehicle."

The Santa Fe area has a 50% chance of rainstorms Saturday and a 60% chance Sunday, he said.

Albuquerque rescue crews have been pulling people out who fell into the Rio Grande because the "banks were unstable," Guyer said.

"It's been a long time since the river has been so high, so it eats away at a bank. People need to be really careful near the river," he said. "It's nice to see the water, but it can be dangerous."