ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Many places across the metro lost power Wednesday, Feb. 22, due to high winds. PNM is saying the outages affected five thousand customers, impacting residences and streetlights
Businesses also lost power today and had to close early. At around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, snow was whipping around in the wind in downtown Albuquerque. Roads were slick and some people’s houses were damaged by the winds, with tiles completely blown off a resident’s roof.
In Corrales, the winds were so strong that they caused a tree to topple. Neighbors were shocked as they set to work moving it. “We hear a thunk and we see this big tree and I was like I used to wrestle I might be able to pull it out and nah,” said Orlando Gutierrez, whose tree was toppled by the wind.
On the roads, I-40 during rush hour was flowing, but visibility was limited. Near the Albuquerque Sunport, visibility was down to about one mile.
Rio Rancho schools sheltered in place while they waited out the winds. Meanwhile, along Coors and Montano, traffic came to a standstill because of a downed tree.
