City of Santa Fe crews were busy around the clock for much of last week dealing with what was believed to be record-breaking snowfall in many parts of the state.
Director of Public Works, Regina Wheeler, told KSFR on Friday that while preparation for the first storm of the season is a months-long process, she and her colleagues kicked off what became a 24/7 operation starting at noon on Election Day.
“ Every single Public Works employee shifts over to really being a snow responder and clearing trails and sidewalks," Wheeler said.
"And in this case we had a whole bunch of staff that's been removing downed tree branches from the roads and sidewalks and parks, and chopping those up and getting them out of the way.”
Wheeler said that several other city departments were part of the all-hands-on-deck response, including Emergency Management, Transit, the Alternative Response Unit, and Community Health and Safety.
The latter department fans out around the city to make sure that unhoused people are safe from the weather.
Although weather records in New Mexico suffer from some gaps in data recording, forecasters are convinced that some snowfall records were broken.
One likely historic dumping was on Las Vegas, which received 32 inches of snow over three days.
Santa Fe was mainly in the 10-15 inch range for the three-day storm.
Wheeler says the main reason that cleanup went smoothly last week was due not only to the experience of her teams but because of a unique perspective that comes from living and working in the high desert.
“ We're just really lucky to have Northern New Mexicans and New Mexicans working for us that have those skills," Wheeler said.
"I just feel like our history, the way we live closer to land here—it really serves the community well because our city employees bring all of that to work with them every day."
"Their sensitivity to our cultural perspective, their skills that come from living close to the land, and being really self-sufficient in the world.”
Wheeler said that since the snow ceased on Friday, Public Works teams have been watching to make sure roadway drainage and culvert systems are working well.
