Blown away
High winds blow roof off house, spark power outage

State and Gallup police respond with members of the Gallup fire department on Wednesday to the 25 mile marker on I-40 after strong winds caused this tractor-trailer truck to tip over, closing westbound lanes and snarling traffic through town. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Leslie Wood and Jim Tiffin
Staff Writers

Gallup fire department Capt. Jonathan Pablo tries to shield his radio mocrophone from the wind while talking to the Metro dispatch center Wednesday as he investigates the scene of a roof being blown off a home at 402 W. Logan St in Gallup. High winds and strong gusts caused numerous problems throughout the region, including power outages, traffice accidents, broken power poles and damaged billboards. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

Winds in excess of 65 mph blew into the area on Wednesday afternoon and left pockets of destruction in its wake in Gallup and Grants.

Local emergency personnel responded to call after call of wind-related damage starting at about 11:30 a.m. Dora Montano, a resident of the 600 Block of South Fourth Street, in Gallupwas in her kitchen late Wednesday morning when she heard a loud thud. She looked out her window to see a neighbor's' roof blowing toward her home.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," Montano, a lifelong Gallup resident, said.

Montano was baby-sitting her grandchildren and did not know whether to evacuate her residence or stay put. She immediately called her daughter who then contacted police about the situation.

When Gallup firefighters and police arrived in the area, they found the mobile home at 402 W. Logan had lost its roof. The roof was torn from the structure and landed on a pick-up parked in the driveway. Debris from the roof was also scattered throughout the neighborhood, along with tires which previously had been on top of the canopy.

Firefighters worked to remove a portion of the roof left dangling from the mobile home as the wind continued to gust, only complicating their task. Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, said a camper shell blew toward emergency workers as they tried to clear the mobile home of loose wreckage; however, no injuries were reported.

The mobile home's owner, Victor Murillo, was away on vacation at the time of the incident, neighbors said.

An hour later, New Mexico State Police closed Interstate 40 near mile marker 25 after a gust of wind blew over a tractor-trailertruck traveling along the roadway. The empty tractor-trailer blocked westbound lanes for about 40 minutes until authorities were able to clear the wreckage. Meanwhile, traffic was diverted to nearby frontage roads until about 1:30 p.m. No serious injuries were reported as a result of the accident.

Lt. Darren Soland of the New Mexico State Police said areas of low visibility were reported between mile markers 22-26 in Gallup and mile markers 72-89 in Grants.

"People need to exercise due care on the roads," Soland said.

State police officers patrolled the interstate throughout the afternoon to assist motorists in low visibility locations. The Department of Transportation also displayed messages on digital signs along the interstate to alert drivers of the dangerous conditions.

Local firefighters and forestry service officials also battled a brush fire that ignited near mile marker 12.5 on Interstate 40 near Mentmore on Wednesday afternoon, Capt. Pete Kassetas of the state police said. About 35 residents of the Cedar Ridge Trailer Park were temporarily evacuated because of the flames. They were taken to a nearby staging area for emergency personnel until it was deemed safe for them to return to their homes.

At least 20 residences were in the path of the fire. Kassetas said the blaze was "relatively small" at about 10 acres. He said the fire appeared larger than it was because of the wind, which was blowing smoke throughout the area.

"Firefighters are attempting to control the flames," Kassetas said late Wednesday.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, the fire was 90 percent contained. Dave Houk, a meteorologist for Accuweather, said the Gallup area saw the highest gusts of wind in the state. Winds reached 67 mph by early afternoon, according to recordings taken from the Gallup Municipal Airport. The brisk wind was caused by a "vigorous" low-pressure storm system to the north. Gallup was on the dry side of the system. Houk said to expect 15-30 mph southwest winds with gusts of up to 40 mph this afternoon. "The area should see some relief soon," he said.</sub>Power outages in GrantsNine thousand residential and commercial consumers were without electricity for 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon, from the city of Grants to western Albuquerque, Continental Divide Electrical Cooperative Inc. spokesman Mac Juarez said.

Winds in the 50 to 60 mph range were suspected of causing the outage, downing a 115,000 volt feeder line from PNM in Albuquerque to the Grants area, he said.

Included in the outage were all of Grants, San Rafael, the pueblos of Acoma and Laguna, Cubero, Seboyeta, Highland Meadows and all other ranches, farms and small communities east of Grants.

The feeder line, on the West Mesa, west of Albuquerque also affected about 400 consumers in west Albuquerque, Juarez said, citing information provided by PNM spokeswoman Susan Sonar.

The power was restored as quickly as it was because PNM was able to reroute power to the area while crews continued to work on restoring the downed line.

Initially Wednesday afternoon, Juarez said the outage could last as long as four hours. That was when little or no information was available from PNM about the incident. The same wind conditions existed between Grants and Gallup, but no lines were downed as a result of high winds, he said.

Juarez urges area residents to be prepared for unexpected power outages and advises anyone with medical equipment to have battery backup or plan ahead in the event of outages.

With summer storms coming, it is likely more outages will occur during the next few months. The public is asked to call the cooperative's toll free telephone number anytime day or night to report any outages: 1-877-775-5211.