Federal officials will wrap up their offices in Roswell as at least one employee heads to California to respond to ongoing fires.
In a press release, FEMA said it would continue working with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The application period for federal disaster assistance from the Roswell floods closed on Thursday, Jan. 2. However, residents have an additional 60 days to provide a late application, but an explanation for the delay must be provided “by phone, in writing or in-person,” according to the website. Those applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Details on Roswell office closure
The Disaster Recovery office in the Roswell Mall will close permanently after 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18.
For assistance visit the FEMA page for Roswell resources (or DisasterAssistance.gov/es para español) or call the FEMA live helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585) seven days a week between 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Talking Disaster
Maria Padron, who’s worked for FEMA for 25 years, managed public affairs for the South Fork and Salt fires and the destructive Roswell floods.
Padron announced her reassignment to the California fires, in an email Tuesday, writing. “My city needs me. I had been redeployed to Los Angeles.”
In a call with Source NM, she said hers is the only reassignment she knows of.
Source NM: The U.S. experienced a near-record number of destructive storms, and that’s poised to escalate, considering the effects climate change is having. Do you have anything to say to the people experiencing disasters, many for the first time?
Padron: Always be prepared, have a prepared kit in your car, because you never know when a disaster is going to strike. People need to be aware of what’s going on with the climate, and their surroundings at all times.
In your departure letter, you said ‘your city needs you,’ and you went to school in Carson, California. How do these fires personally affect you?
I live in – not quite the Valley. I live in a safe place, away from the hills. I have two friends, they’ve lost their homes, one in Pasadena the other in Pacific Palisades. So even though I wasn’t affected, I’m affected indirectly.
Is there anything you learned from Roswell or Ruidoso that you think is going to inform your work in LA?
You know, it’s a different ball game. This one is a catastrophic event. There were 1,000, maybe – I forgot how many houses were destroyed in Ruidoso – but this one is miles and miles of destruction. Every disaster is a different ball game, but lessons learned: If you live close to the mountains, in the woods, you need to be prepared all the time for emergencies.
Source NM note: more than 1,400 structures including more than 856 homes were destroyed in the South Fork and Salt Fires.