...Ruidoso, a scenic town of nearly 8,000 in southern New Mexico, is now at the mercy of an enduring, double-barreled disaster. Two massive fires broke out last month along the mountains encircling the town, torching more than 25,000 acres, burning nearly a thousand homes and killing two people. Then, eight times and counting since June 21, including Saturday, floodwaters have cascaded down those same mountainsides into the village.
...It’s a worst-case scenario that may become more frequent as weather extremes intensify in the American West. Studies suggest climate change is increasing the risk that severe rainfall comes in the wake of wildfires. Increasingly hot and dry conditions breed fiercer blazes. Warming air can also hold more moisture, leading to more intense storms. The burn scars from fires can elevate the flooding risk for more than five years, as vegetation regrows.
The fires in June sheared hillsides of their evergreen trees and shrubs and even altered the composition of the soil, dramatically reducing its ability to absorb rainfall. Andrew Mangham, a National Weather Service hydrologist, said it was as if giant plastic sheets had been draped on the mountains, then covered with ash and tree trunks that would tumble down at the slightest invitation. The blazes came just in time for the state’s monsoon season — and suddenly even normal rainstorms could produce supercharged flash floods...more
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