Governor sees pueblo fire, flood damage

SANTA CLARA PUEBLO, N.M. - It's been a rough 12 months for Santa Clara Pueblo. First a forest fire, then a flood and now another flood.

That's why Gov. Susana Martinez took a tour of the devastation Tuesday.

It is such a dangerous situation here that if it rains just a little during the night the pueblo could start flooding again.

Martinez spent a couple of hours walking around and was shocked by what she saw.

Since the Las Conchas Fire burned across the Jemez Mountains last year, Santa Clara Pueblo has been reseeding and regrowing their land.

That fire charred most of their land, about 15,000 acres.

Last week a small creek became a raging river as flash flooding wiped out the pueblos' hard work.

The pueblo declared a state of emergency which allowed the state to provide funding to clean up the mess.

Martinez has pledged $750,000 to pay for sandbags and construction to rebuild.

"If you look at the watershed it's almost like looking at the moon," Martinez said. "It's just gray and ashy and the rocks in it--it just doesn't seem like something that was a watershed."

Last week Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., spoke at the pueblo. Where he was standing is now gone washed away by the rushing water.

The feds will pay for 75 percent of the cost of public infrastructure there.

The state agreed to split the remaining costs with the pueblo.