Loss, resilience as Roswell digs out from historic flood

Dec. 14—ROSWELL — "When we have a disaster, save the O'Keeffe."

That mantra for staff at the Roswell Museum and Art Center was a joke — at least, until Oct. 19, when flood waters whooshed through homes, businesses and the museum.

Artist Georgia O'Keeffe's Ram's Skull with Brown Leaves is one of the most valuable pieces at the museum. When museum Executive Director Caroline Brooks first went to assess the damage, she worried she didn't have the right screwdriver to remove the security screws.

She didn't need to worry. The water had reached the bottom of the frame, and the gallery was so moist that, screwdriver or no, Brooks was able to rip the painting straight off the wall.

The painting, now housed at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, survived the flood. But in Roswell, recovery is still in limbo for the museum and the typically dry city where few have flood insurance.

Piles of debris have been cleared from residences and businesses affected by heavy rains in October. Some residents have already received payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has approved more than 1,600 applications and more than $15 million in housing and other assistance, and are on their way to rebuilding. Others are still working through the process.

On Monday, the floors in several of the Roswell Museum's galleries had been ripped out, leaving behind a skeletal frame. Remaining museum labels describe now-absent art. A few sculptures wrapped in translucent plastic still haunt the museum, but Brooks estimates thousands of art pieces and archival materials have been removed for restoration.

She's expecting it will take around three years for the museum to reopen. But questions remain about what that will look like. For each piece of art, the cost to restore has to be weighed against the value of the piece.

At the time of the flooding, the museum had reached several goals:

* It had just been reaccredited, a mark of prestige that only about 3% of museums nationwide achieve.

* It had just put in new hardwood and terrazzo flooring.

* Brooks had just pulled together local and state dollars for renovations.

Brooks started working at the museum in 2004 and helped put together a reinstallation of the Rogers and Mary Ellen Aston Collection of the American West, which included Spanish Colonial and Native American art and artifacts, including centuries-old armor. On Monday, Brooks showed the now-empty exhibit.

"We worked for months and months and months just installing all these items," Brooks said. "You have that personal connection of having handled all these things, and then full circle, that personal connection having to remove all of them."

There are silver linings, Brooks said. Tearing out some of the waterlogged walls revealed the museum's original adobe, a hidden bathroom and other historic features that had been plastered over. Depending on the cost of repairs, the museum, which has yet to get through the FEMA process, may have to rebuild on another site. Brooks would like to keep the building and highlight the uncovered history lost to decades of expansions and renovations.

"You have to continue to hope for the best," Brooks said. "Given the situation, we're just doing the best that we can, but we wish that we had immediate answers. We just don't know."

Frustrations with FEMA

Southwest of the museum, another piece of art — precious to its owner — was wrapped in plastic at the home of Crusita Carrillo, who was sipping a root beer at her kitchen table as smoke ribboned from an ashtray.

In an adjoining room, Carrillo gently unwrapped a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper to show to a visitor. Carrillo was dropping off donations at the Salvation Army when she saw the piece.

"I said, 'I've got to have that,' " Carrillo said. After asking the price — it was selling for $50 — Carrillo said, "that's mine."

The piece is her "pride and joy," her brother Rick Velasquez said.

Carrillo and Velasquez, are two of 10 siblings. Velasquez said the family is like the 12 apostles depicted in the painting. The piece hung above Carrillo's dining table, where the family would gather, say grace and "share our love for one another," Velasquez said.

Carrillo was out celebrating her 86th birthday when the rain began. When she got home, the artwork was one of the first things Carrillo checked on.

Although The Last Supper was safe, many of her other belongings were damaged or lost. After the flooding, thousands of dollars worth of Carrillo's jewelry was stolen from her home, including special pieces from her grandmother and mother-in-law. Others reported problems with looting after the flooding.

So far, she's only received $700 in FEMA aid, although one contractor told her repairs would cost close to $40,000.

The experience has been a "nightmare," Carrillo said, although her humor remained intact. Before the flooding, her daughter was pushing her to donate some of her belongings.

"And Jesus said ... 'I'm going to help you,' " Carrillo said with a smile.

Apply, appeal, appeal

At a Wednesday recovery town hall, Roswell Mayor Tim Jennings had a three-word slogan: apply, appeal, appeal.

Jennings said people were still signing up for FEMA aid that week. The deadline to apply is Jan. 2.

"You have to apply," Jennings said. "And if there's something that doesn't go your way, you have to appeal. And if it still doesn't go your way, you have to appeal."

Other officials at the meeting urged people to apply for funding — even if no money is currently available. That's the case at the Small Business Administration, which offers low-interest disaster loans but is experiencing a shortfall, said Jeffrey Lusk, director of SBA's Disaster Field Operations Center-West.

"How much money have we loaned so far? Zero," Lusk said. "SBA is suffering from a lapse in funding, and until Congress authorizes funding back to SBA, we're not able to actually send money out the door. That doesn't mean that people can't apply with us. That doesn't mean that we won't take you all the way through the process. I can't look at somebody and say "You're approved today." ... But what we can do is apply, apply, apply, get in line."

Aid and obstacles

The flood exacerbated problems Roswell already had with housing and socioeconomic "disconnects", said Kerry Moore, director of the Chaves County Health Council.

An increasing number of temporary workers live in the area, Moore said. But housing construction hasn't kept up. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of properties either for sale or available to rent in Chaves County dropped by 25% and 35%, respectively, according to American Community Surveys data. Single-family homebuilding has remained steady for the past 10 years, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey of building permits, but there hasn't been significant multifamily construction since 2016.

"Some of us, we knew that this was going to be big because we had been fighting for housing," Moore said. "We already knew. As soon as it hit, several of us that deal with the housing issues, we were meeting, trying to figure out how we were going to help solve some of this."

She's not expecting FEMA trailers to come into the area, based on the response in nearby Ruidoso.

Part of Moore's job is to compile resources in Chaves County. There's help available, Moore said, but getting people connected with that help can be a challenge. In Dexter, which also experienced flooding, many people lost their vehicles, Moore said, making it difficult for them to visit the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at the Roswell Mall.

"The best way to get things done is to go in and sit down with that person face-to-face," Moore said. "It really is a huge challenge for, especially Dexter, Hagerman, Midway, but also a lot of our people just here locally."

And then there are cultural barriers to accepting aid. Moore and Casakids Family Resource Center Director Sarah Johnson said their partnership with FEMA has been positive, but some people in need sometimes feel guilty asking for resources. As an example, Johnson said when some people are offered donated diapers and wipes, they will take only one.

"Their response is like ... 'somebody else might need it more than me,' " Johnson said. "Navigating that part, teaching people that 'you're equally as deserving and that you are in crisis' has been interesting, to say the least. There is a little bit of resistance to take when they feel like others might be suffering more, even though they're suffering in the moment."

Rebuilding a home

When The New Mexican first spoke with Paul Hebert, it was a week after his Roswell home had been flooded.

But a few weeks later, Hebert had already received a chunk of FEMA aid and was well underway with repairs on his home. He's been staying in a trailer and working on the house when off work while his wife stays with family in Albuquerque.

The Spring River is at Hebert's front door. But he was told when he bought the house 18 years ago that flood insurance wouldn't be necessary — after all, Roswell rarely gets rain. The city got just over 9 inches of rain in all of 2018, a few inches less than the typical 12. During the October flooding, there were reports of 7 or 8 inches of rain in just one night.

"I was totally in denial," Hebert said — at least, he was until the water in his home reached the sockets and electricity started buzzing.

The next morning, Hebert's overalls, which were hanging on the closet door, were soaked to the knee.

New drywall, insulation and paint will cost around $14,000, Hebert said. There's still some lingering dirt and grime from the flooding. But his experience in construction and help from family, friends and the company he works for have moved the process along, and he hopes to have his wife home by Christmas.

"Every little thing helps," Hebert said.

Christmas spirit returns

Christmas is fast approaching as Chaves County rebuilds from the flood. Nobody feels that time of year more keenly than Santa.

After the flooding, Roswell Santa Claus John Donahue volunteered with his church. He can't do much physical labor, but the jovial man in overalls found many people affected by the flood just needed someone to talk to.

"Looking like Santa Claus really helps them to open up," Donahue said.

Donahue has been raising money to buy Christmas trees for affected families. When visiting neighborhoods with his church, he came across one house that, months before December, already had a Christmas tree up but undecorated.

Donahue asked them about the tree — it comes with the Santa territory. The family explained that their shed, full of Christmas decorations, had been flooded. They put up the tree "looking for any hope to cling to."

So Donahue went to the store to pick up garlands and lights. It was "heartbreaking" to see the impact on his town, Donahue said, but Roswell turned out. Neighbor helped neighbor.

"Empathy was easy," Donahue said.

Pockets of optimism

Before the flood, Thomas Plummer had a plan.

Under the guise of an October football game, he was going to bring his girlfriend to Texas. She loves the beach, Plummer said, and he would propose there.

Then his home was flooded a week before he planned to pop the question. The ring — princess cut, size 8, picked out with the help of her best friend — was a little wet but not damaged. And Plummer suddenly couldn't wait to get engaged.

"The flood happened, and that changed everything," Plummer said.

Tired, muddy and sweaty from cleaning the house, Plummer proposed in his future in-laws' living room. It was "unromantic, but still sort of romantic," Plummer said. She said yes.

Plummer is in the middle of the appeals process with FEMA after hearing how much it would cost to repair his home. But the engagement has given him and his fiancée something to look forward to.

"The three most important things to me survived: my fiancée, her kid and my dog," Plummer said. "Everything else can be replaced."

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