EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 The Rio Grande surged to one of its highest levels on record in El Paso this week, but officials said levees helped prevent even worse flooding.<\/p>\n
Cleanup was underway in Sunland Park as El Paso Water crews worked with the El Paso Office of Emergency Management, using water-extraction trucks to remove floodwater and clear streets.<\/p>\n
The Rio Grande recorded its third-highest level in El Paso, according to the National Weather Service. <\/p>\n
Senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service Mike Hardiman said the river peaked in El Paso at 9.62 feet.<\/p>\n
Julia Spencer reports on Rio Grande reaches third-highest level on record in El Paso; levees limit flooding (Credit: KFOX14)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: Rio Grande high water threatens CRRUA wastewater lines; residents urged to watch for odors<\/a><\/p>\n “If we didn’t have the levees, we would be in far worse state than what we’re seeing now,” Hardiman said.<\/p>\n Hardiman said heavy rain upstream combined with the timing of runoff entering the river pushed it to a historic level. <\/p>\n He said areas north of Las Cruces saw two to four inches of rain in recent weeks, saturating the ground.<\/p>\n “The rainfall that we had in recent weeks upstream north of Las Cruces was anywhere between two and four inches of rain left the area completely saturated. So all the rain that we saw in the past couple of days from the remnants of polo basically all became runoff,” Hardiman said.<\/p>\n Hardiman said one factor worked in the region\u2019s favor: the river started out dry.<\/p>\n “And also keep in mind, like we started with an empty river, so normally you would have four feet of water in the river for irrigation purposes in the middle of summer,” Hardiman said. “So with the river starting off completely dry, that put us in a better situation than we might’ve seen otherwise.”<\/p>\n