Gov. declares disaster in Otero, Mora

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday morning declared Otero and Mora counties disaster areas because of storm damage, freeing up state money to help with cleanup efforts.

One of the hardest-hit areas was the southern New Mexico village of Cloudcroft, where power was knocked out when winds on Tuesday knocked over several large trees onto power lines. Those winds also damaged many buildings in the historic downtown area.

Otero County Electric Co-Op crews on Wednesday were able to repair the main power transmission line between Alamogordo and Cloudcroft, but at least 50 street lines remained down at noon Wednesday, leaving an estimated 4,000 customers without power in Cloudcroft, Timberon, Sunspot, Long Ridge, Mayhill and Piñon.

Mario Romero with the co-op said crews plan to restore power block by block, so some areas may get up and running on Wednesday. Still, some areas may not have power for several days.

Meanwhile, Mora County, in northern New Mexico, received heavy snowfall that left Interstate 25 messy and surface roads even worse.

Late Tuesday night, a plow was damaged when a gust of wind pushed it into a bridge support.

The same weather system headed north and east out of New Mexico, slamming 10 states across the Midwest, with wind gusts of up to 50 miles an hour creating snow drifts 15 feet high. Hundreds of flights have been canceled in the area.

Up to three feet of snow is expected in the Great Lakes region by the end of the week.

In all, forecasters say, the storm will have punished as much as two-thirds of the country.