ABQ Times

More than two inches of rain fell in 30 minutes on Los Lunas last weekend turning roads into rivers.

A new development suffered extensive flooding prompting residents to voice their frustration over how to clean the debris that blocked storm drains.

“The day the rain came through, last Saturday, the whole yard flooded in the back here," Christine Christiansen told KOB. "The landscaper just finished working that morning. The streets flooded so it looked like a river flowing down the streets, then the water was backing up because of the trash and debris blocking it.”

Michael Jaramillo, the city’s public works director, said a lot of the water came from undeveloped land to the west. The one drainage pond in the development wasn't enough to contain all the water.

“There is very little mitigation further west of this development and that caught this development off guard a little bit because now we have additional water coming off site onto this site that’s trying to control that water,” Jaramillo told KOB.

The developer intends to fix and repair many of the features and structures that got damaged in the rain and will work with the public works department to make improvements to minimize water coming from the west into the development.

For now, the storm drains have been cleared and are protected with sandbags and covers. “The water was just the first part we now have extensive damage to the backyard we just finished,” Christiansen said.