A decade-old spruce tree in front of St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral was toppled when winds blew up to 60 miles per hour through northern New Mexico late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning.
“Wind conditions were very severe last night,” said Athena Beshur, owner of Santa Fe-based landscaping company Seeds of Wisdom. She and Coates Tree Service staff worked Wednesday to remove fallen trees near the cathedral and begin replanting.
Beshur said the fallen spruce was one of two that fell on the cathedral property during the storm. Both trees will be repurposed, with some pieces being given to local artists, others used as decorations, and the rest being turned into mulch for future plantings.
“We’re so grateful that she missed the entire basilica and went behind the statues,” said Beshur of the spruce. “The only thing that broke were the two light poles.”
The storm, which brought sleet and strong gusts of wind, knocked down trees and power lines from Sandoval County to Taos. While some residents had their electricity back in the early afternoon, others were unsure when the electricity would return, and restoration work continued well into the evening.
A statue of Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy stands in front of the cathedral basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on Wednesday, overcrowded but undamaged by a fallen spruce.
City spokesman Dave Herndon said several small aircraft were overturned at the regional airport of Santa Fe.
“The winds knocked over some small private planes and damaged some parked vehicles this morning,” he said in a statement. “Airport and Jet Center Flight Based Operations are working together to notify private property owners.”
There were eight fallen trees outside the state capitol.
In Sandoval County around 7 a.m., several trees landed on at least five cars on NM 4 near the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains, said Sheriff’s Deputy John Castaneda.
An adult and child trapped in one of the vehicles were rescued and taken to a local hospital, he said.
Castaneda added Sandoval County rescue workers, and the county fire department worked tirelessly to remove the fallen trees and help residents in the surrounding areas.
New Mexico state police responded to two accidents on Interstate 25 as a result of the storm early Wednesday morning. Officer Dusty Francisco, a spokesman for the agency, said no injuries were sustained in the clashes.
Santa Fe Police Chief Anthony Tapia said a woman complained of a neck injury in an accident on I-25. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The Public Service Company of New Mexico, which powers homes across the state, was working to restore power to thousands of customers who lost power between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., spokeswoman Sara Yingling said.
“We had a pretty significant outage in Santa Fe this morning that affected 2,403 customers,” she said. “But that has been clarified in the meantime.”
Yingling said most outages were the result of power lines being torn from fallen trees rather than damaged transformers, and by 5:00 p.m., only 26 customers were listed as having no power.
Communities further north had bigger problems with the storm.
Taos County declared a state of emergency after the storm devastated numerous homes and cut electricity in the northern part of the county, The Taos News reported. The roofs of 10 houses were torn down and two commercial buildings were damaged.
It is the third time in a decade that county government authorities have declared a formal state of emergency.
Power outages also affected US 84/285 traffic lights in Rio Arriba County.
The Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative, which powers several pueblos and communities in northern New Mexico, tweeted at 10:30 a.m. that a transmission tower near San Ildefonso Pueblo had broken and took up to six hours to repair.
No one was available at the company’s Española office to answer questions about the impact of the outages on other pueblos and communities.
Brian Sayler, a public information officer for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said at least 10 pueblos were affected by the storm. On Wednesday at 4:45 p.m., several houses were still without electricity, he said.
“We advise people in this situation to contact their local emergency manager,” said Sayler. “So far we have seen incidents like this in areas where some houses were isolated and electricity could not be restored. In these situations, the logs emergency managers provided generators, firewood, or other resources to meet these needs. “
Benny Vigil hauls branches from one of eight trees that fell near the roundhouse while cleanup teams work Wednesday to clear the debris.
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