Flooding in Cubero

With all the recent rain Cibola County has been receiving during this monsoon, the village of Cubero suffered some serious flooding that washed out a couple of county roads this past week.

Cibola County Emergency Manager Dustin Middleton said the county has declared an emergency in Cubero as a precautionary measure.

“Right now, most of the damage was done to the county roads,” Middleton said. “We did declare and emergency situation out there as a precautionary measure, but in order for us to receive any money, we have to meet a certain threshold.”

Middleton said the Department of Homeland Security Emergency Management did come out to Cubero to help with the damage assessment and as of right now the county still does not meet the threshold to receive funding for the damages done.

“It’s going to be a concern while this monsoon season is still active and that is why we declared the emergency situation,” Middleton said. “We can only receive money for damages if those damages meet certain requirements and it’s a three-step process.”

According to Middleton, first, the county had to report a county level declaration, then the state had to declare, then the federal government must declare.

Middleton said that two county roads, county road seven and eight received the damage during the flood, but he added that the roads are being prepared to be repaired.

“We will assess the situation as the repairs are being made so we can make changes so these roads do not get washed out in the future,” Middleton said. “This a primary concern for us as these are secondary routes into Cubero. We need to ensure that these roads will be able to handle storms so the residents of Cubero have access to leave the village if an evacuation is ever needed.”