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Rangers Evacuate 200 ‘Distraught’ People From Carlsbad Caverns National Park After Flash Floods

Visitors and staff were stranded at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

Almost 200 visitors and staff at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico had to be rescued by rangers after being left stranded by flash floods this weekend. Authorities started to remove people at around 2 p.m. Saturday after thunderstorms began in the park, but a shelter-in-place order was then issued around an hour later, leaving frightened sightseers to hunker down in the park’s visitor center. One of the main roads in and out of the area had become impassable during torrential downpours, leaving those inside the park stuck for around nine hours. “There was no signs or anything like that warning us about flash flooding or anything,” said Albuquerque resident Michael Conteas, who went to the caverns with his kids. “Children were upset. My wife was very, very nervous. Everyone was pretty much distraught.”