Another day::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The floodwaters have subsided and moved downstream a hundred miles or so expending themselves in the wilds of the Trans-Pecos. All the evacuees are back home and the roads and highways are all open again. Concerns for earthen dams and some sets of local farm pond type dams failing have been abated by this afternoon and life proceeds apace. This entire set of events has happened with no fatalaties and no serious injuries. The disaster in New Mexico is primarily a PA disaster (roads, bridges, power and other infrastructure).

They have set the date here for closure of our DRC (Disaster Recovery Center) which seems early to me but, today had onlyl 15 applicants there. 3200 total applicants of which most are ending up in the SBA (Small Business Administration) or VOLAG (Voluntary agencies) assistance lists. It is odd to see how differently this thing runs than Louisiana... people are interested and kind of respectful of FEMA here... we are going to be able to dish out a ton of help and people are actively helping both themselves and their own government to make this work. Lots of money is in the pipeline already and I believe that the part already declared for DR 1658 will be mostly done by Mid October. The damage yesterday was literally thumping the rubble in most respects. The same arroyos have flooded the same trailer villages.... some additional damage has been done but it does not look like a whole new declaration to me (ok.. that is a wild ass guess but the places I saw did not look remarkably different than before... just scarey as hell when the water comes that fast.....)

I am concerned that i am in the desert for three weeks and my tan is fading.. it looks like working in Seattle in February.. even wore a jacket to work one day. What an odd place this is. :-D