FARMINGTON, N.M. – A New Mexico family spent about 12 hours stranded on their roof after floodwater swallowed their home.
Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Amy Goodday said her daughter woke her up after water started seeping into their home. Within minutes, muddy water rushed down the hallway and trapped the family inside.
“And you can see the muddy water coming like snake coming from the walls, coming down the hallway,” Goodday said.
Goodday said she got shocked when she tried to unplug something. She said water surrounded the doors, so the family used the roof as its only way out.
“My daughter was all like, Mom, you’re going up first, you’re going up first. And then, you know, me, I didn’t want to do that, but I did,” Goodday said.
With help from her son-in-law, Goodday pulled her two grandsons onto the roof. The rest of the family followed, including their dogs. Their phones died, the power went out and they waited in the dark for help.
“And we were up there for 12 hours, you know, not knowing,” Goodday said.
A New Mexico State Police helicopter rescued the family one by one. By noon Saturday, officials reported 11 helicopter hoist operations during the county’s flood response.
Goodday is now at McGee Park, where the Red Cross is providing food, shelter and mental health support to people forced from their homes by the flooding.
“A lot of people are heartbroken, a lot of damage,” Goodday said.
As of 5 p.m. Saturday, local officials estimated flooding had impacted about 25,000 homes in the Bloomfield, Aztec and Farmington areas.
