The news out of Ruidoso these days is especially grim. Two kids swept away at a trailer park? That could have been us.
We lived for a couple of years in the village of Cloudcroft and then out in the mountains toward Mayhill for another almost four more. We went to Ruidoso often. I remember sticking my feet in the river there and being grateful that fresh water came down off the mountain to cool me off at least once a summer.
Fires and burn scars, though, make it so the water comes faster. Even a little water has nowhere to go except straight down the mountain and into the river. Rains are coming harder and faster now than ever before. Chicago got five inches in fifty minutes; Texas got a 30-foot swell in the Guadalupe.
Don't count on FEMA. Don't count on the NOAA. Don't count on warning systems. They are gutted, understaffed, demoralized.
For a while there I was telling people to stay out of airlines too. The FAA has caved in; air traffic controllers are falling over from overwork etc. But that situation seems to have righted itself a little as I'm sure the emergency systems will too. People prioritize based on what's necessary and if they only have a few resources, granted not nearly enough, at least they will put them where they are needed most, and offer some protection from emergencies.
In the end it's up to us to take care of our own. Have you ever heard people talk about life in anarchy? Now's our chance to experience it. The pressure is raised by the thousands of weather events (they will be getting worse) so communities of people have to respond by pulling together and offering what help they can. In anarchy you make your own government to deal with your own problems.
Ruidoso was a beautiful place. Maybe the world is changing too quickly for it.
