I'm no stranger to flash floods, up here in northern NM, but this footage you captured, I've never seen anything like it - bravo and bravé, lol. Truly fantastic being able to follow the lead of it, and thru such a beautiful canyon. Watched it twice at once, just mesmerized by the power. Thanks for filming this, wow.
@@texasred2702 What was remarkable to me was that he filmed the leading flood wall all the way down, and we got a chance as well to see the flood coming at us during his frequent stops, and then we skittered away to safely watch its continuation allllll the way down to the hiway bridge, and then some. Whew! As I say, up here in northern NM we are no strangers to flash floods keeping us at bay, not being able to cross and just having to watch it run it's course across our path for a couple hours sometimes. But never have I imagined somehow watching the progress like this.
- with all the global warming this particular flashflood is nothing compared to what's coming in a few years! We urgently need to reduce our carbon emissions, now!
My family and I were part of the 100+ stuck at the caverns during this. Very grateful the rangers kept us safe. Great video to show us what was happening as it happened.
@@ShawnSabot we didn’t have any issues up there. The visitor center ran out of meals, so I didn’t get to eat, but honestly they did the best they could with what they had. Coming down we crossed through 2 areas of heavy mud and 3 areas of standstill water that was about a foot or so deep. But again the rangers were great at keeping us safe and not letting us go before they were sure we could get down
To think, you’re not even a storm chasers! You captured the feeling of impending doom as video taping the rapid stream of water, mud and muck become a river, then approach you in your vehicle just ahead of it! You made my heart race at times! Nice of you to share your incredible footage, but please be safe!
Dude, That was so cool that you filmed that flood. I was just there in May with my 3 kids. This was awesome to see your video after we were just there. Very cool. Thanks.
We were there, two of the folks stuck at the top! They evacuated us right from the cave and we got a few minutes out of the park before turning a corner and seeing a massively flooded road down below and a bunch of people doing K turns. Back to the top, watched the bats from the parking lot, and around midnight we caravan'd out. Crazy stuff! Amazing footage here, glad you made it out safe!
The wash area you were at at the end was definitely designed exactly for this sort of thing and it did it’s job perfectly. I’m glad you were able to capture this and also that you were safe and smart through all of it. This was incredible footage, thank you for capturing it for those of us that would never see something like this. The amount of water was jaw dropping!
People who are not from the Southwest or the western half of Texas and visiting these places like Carlsbad Caverns or any desert monuments, please be aware that rainfall there is not like what you're used to back home. They don't have soft clay or loam which gets slowly waterlogged until it can't hold anymore and *then* flooding begins. We have caliche and rock, so the water doesn't penetrate much, it just flows down to the lowest points and then filters down into aquifers. And we get a LOT of rain at once, like an entire year in Seattle in the space of an hour, which is why flash floods are so dangerous, especially in canyon country where the pressure is concentrated by the restricted space. Believe those flood markers you see by low water crossings. You might think it won't ever rain again sometimes, and then those markers will be completely submerged in minutes. And don't ever camp in a ravine or riverbed. Those boulders were not dropped off there by Manny's Landscaping Service.
The southwest gets rain/floods like that every year in late summer and early fall. I was born and raised about a hundred miles from there and we used to say (in the 50's and 60's anyway) that we got 90% of our yearly rainfall during that rainy season.
😲A YEAR'S worth of "SEATTLE" rain in an hour???!!!! Whoaaaa, that's too much for me. I'd be petrified to live out there. Imagine just VISITING & then outta nowhere, BAM.......you're stuck in a flash flood. I'd probably have a heart attack & die just from THINKING about dying from a flood 😩🤦🏽♀️
This was almost like a nightmare where some kind of blob is chasing you and trying to gobble you and your car up! This was incredible and once in a lifetime footage! You should get a YouTo0b award of some kind!!
You have recorded one of the most amazing Flash-Floods I have watched to date, great work, glad you used common sense and alert while filming and driving. Looking at 0.29 the section of mountain rock area just above looks to be a weak area with large cracks, could fail sometime in the future. The large crack seems to follow up the mountain below the road. This could have an impact on road above. I think that area should be investigated, since it appears to be located not too far below the above road. One large area lets go, and above area usually follows. Really nice job Shawn.
I live in Carlsbad the park service should have known in advance that the canyon was going to flood. It was clear on the weather channel we where going to get alot of rain. No stranger to these floods. You’re a brave soul for staying in that canyon once it started to flood. 10 minutes is all it takes imagine what it looks like when we get rain for a day or 2
Always prepare when taking a road trip, plenty of water, snacks, blanket and necessary meds. I keep a bag packed in my car with necessities plus pack with flare, jumper cables etc. And check the weather forecast and don’t whine about it when you get stuck.
@@jerrybrackeen1068 or get to high ground even if you have to leave your car. It can be replaced. I live in snow country so in the winter it’s iffy if I can get home and have to stay in the car or turn around and find a motel until the roads are plowed. Better safe grandma sorry,
6:00 is exactly how people die. They see what looks like a small stream crossing the road, and assume they can just drive right through it. However, a car can float in just a few inches of water, and gets swept to the side. If the car tips or rolls or gets stuck in a low area, it fills with water very fast. Some people not from the area just assume that they would have built a bridge if it was a big deal, and drive right in without realizing how deep it is. If you are in a canyon formed over time by flowing and eroding the ground, pay attention, lol.
Just another day in the land of enchantment. You learn to stay out of the arroyo. That's why they put a culvert under the highway. It can rain 20-30 miles away and be a clear beautiful day for you. Always check the weather....
This is monsoon season in the desert Sw, Do not drive thru these canyons!! Normal operations of mother nature!! Lived in Alamogordo NM for many years and Texas. Be safe for your family and friends and pets, be aware of your surroundings and keep an eye on the weather conditions.
Where did this rain come from ? Look at a topo, highlight the ridges that form the watershed feeding the canyon, that's the catchment area that can send water through it. Thx for stickin' with it, it is so rare being so big, cheers 🍺
Amazing flash flood footage, great job! Oh yeah, you can hear a flash flood before you see it. You witnessed---and recorded---a marvelous example of life in New Mexico. A storm cell parks itself up-canyon and drops it's moisture. You're watching the after-effects!
@@susanaobeid6770 lo lol lol l... Get out a map, I'm in New Mexico. Santa Fe very nice. What is work do you do? Old Mexico is great as well. You just need to pick your spots
If you’re in the desert downhill from where the rain falls, stay on high ground! I’ve had to scramble up the sides of a wash, thank heavens the floods are loud like a hissing freight train! Great job taking advantage of your situation & sharing the experience!
Wow! You don't know that the sky has a river flowing through it and the sky can dump tons of water on a mountain or at a high altitude? I was blown away when I heard a meteorologist say that there is a river of water in the sky! There are times after a space launch there is rain fall in some area of the country. Because of all the high temperatures, the water evaporates and the sky at some point, sheds all that water. And the cycle continues to repeat!
Me being a native New Mexican. I will give you some advice. It's the the dry desert UNTIL, it rains. And when it does, it pours! Always pay attention to weather reports and watch the sky and head to higher ground
Having lived in that area for decades (ten years in Carlsbad and eleven years just at the base of the caverns in White's City) I can honestly say that what you're seeing is normal. Stick around and you'll truly experience a "flood". That's child's play in comparison to what I've seen there.
@@suehowie152 there are hundreds of such canyons in the area. Hundreds or even thousands of years ago it may have been a flowing river, but yes, I'd say it's a safe assumption. It's definitely been carved out from thousands of years of deterioration.
@@edmartin875 as you and I know, it may be bone dry several years in a row, but when it rains like a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock... Any relation to Jeff?
Wow! This is quite a video you captured! I did hear about it on NPR radio. I live in the Southwest boot heal part of New Mexico. We had a bridge wash out the other day so now there isn’t a way for the people in the little towns of Cliff and Gila and Buckhorn to get to Silver City to buy groceries or go to work etc. Even school had to be canceled at Cliff since half the students come from Silver City
Monsoon season in the Southwest is no joke. Lived in Albuquerque, NM for 4 years. When it rains, it RAINS. You get several inches in a very, very short period of time. There's videos about the arroyos on interstate 25 and 40 looking exactly like this. Several of them were actually damaged from the amount of rain they got this year.
We've seen the rain waters pour off of NM mountains in 1978😳 & 2 young boys out riding their bikes near those huge drains/spillways were being searched for, as those drains/spillways were filling up fast! That was a very scary time for us as kids! We were told it may rain somewhere there, but it washes from everywhere to get there, so stay away from those & out of the valleys!
This is truly the only way for it to rain in the desert. When it only rains a bit, the water evaporates way too quickly. When we get this much at once, the water stays and goes where it needs to.
I know this road well, we live about 85-90 mi from the Caverns & have been there many times. So glad you weren't washed over the side of that road. Ravines through there are VERY deep & dangerous!
Wow that water is moving fast!! And you can see that some time in the past,.. that whole canyon was flooded. The canyon sides have been eroded away some time in the past by a huge flood water.
DUDE!! DUDE!! TOTALLY RADICAL AWESOME 👏 👏👏!! What a phenomenon that you got it filmed, stayed ahead of it, were safe & warned ⚠️ others to boot!! Kudos!! Loved it and appreciate your great filming!! A chance of a lifetime and YOU DID IT!!
Yes, it was a long video, and I watched every single second of it. How SCARY. It's a good thing you are familiar with the area, I would have panicked. 😱 You, seriously, need to get a T-shirt saying you survived that! 😉 I'm glad you did, it COULD have ended much differently.
That is some dangerous stuff . Wife and I and four of our friends were four wheeling in Moab Utah and got in about the same as you we were able to get to high ground with our four wheel jeeps four 4 1/2 hour's we sat .
These Flash Floods In Desert Areas Are Amazing , And Dangerous ! Moab Utah Had The Same Thing Happen This Past Weekend ! I Live Just Across The Utah Colorado Border In Colorado And We Had Heavy Rains Here As Well And It Is Just Now Starting To Dry Out ! Great Video, And Glad To See You Made It Out OK !
I've been in Moab when the flood came right down the main drag. Pretty impressive, but took days for town crews to clean up. Monsoon season in the High Desert Southwest is so welcome this year.
The amount of water and volume filling completely dried areas is amazing. Thanks for showing this, I'd never imagine it getting so forceful in such a short time. Glad you stayed ahead of it.
I remember back in the 1980s being in Albuquerque for a business trip and had never seen roadways like they had- extra wide with a channel in the center. Some of the locals explained they were for when they had flash floods. Do they still have those troughs in the center of roadways?
Great capture, you were just ahead of the action. people often underestimate the power of water. Debris often is the cause of pushing road-bridges out of alignment. That is a massive amount of water moving in a very short time.
I was camping there first week of May this year on my bike. Spent four days in a tent. This gives me a whole new perspective. Excellent footage my man you have some nerves of steel.
We were there Saturday, finished the tour about 2:30, saw the storm coming and left. We were shocked to hear about the flooding in our hotel that night. Incredible footage you got there!
Great journalism sir! New subscriber! I hope that if the media wants to use your footage, you will be compensated, and not just steal your footage without giving you credit!! Stay safe! 😎🤙🏻🇺🇸🍻🤘🏻😎
@@ShawnSabot That's journalism. You got the shot...(well actually you got the whole story!!!) With editing, the "Not so nice words" can always be muted or substituted for something else... regardless, top notch reporting sir!💪🏻🤙🏻😉😎🍻
What an amazing video, thank you so much for taking the time to film this scarey scene. That bridge will need shoring up, the next flood may do some damage to the freeway. Glad you made it safely.
Last year in June when I was there a flash flood hit and the two bridges that cross the river were closed for part of two days , luckily we were on the side of the river we wanted to be on .
Great vid. Capturing the River as it approached multiple points along the way. Rare to be able to witness and yet be mobile and safety conscious at the same time. We drove through that area to the caverns last year and it was all bone dry of course. Glad the area engineers prepped the elevated roads and high pass throughs under the freeways!
I was born and raised in Phx. I have seen some flash floods many times. That has to be the largest and fastest moving flash flood I have seen in 58 years. Wow!!! Great footage..
Water Is Life, and sometimes it's Strife! I love the water and we need the rains, but sometimes it's a bit much. I saw a news report that there is a family with a daughter who has a heart issue and they didn't bring her meds from the the hotel with them and they are trapped at the caves now. They said they brought some of the stranded visitors some food but they charged them for it, which is ridiculous! They need to evacuate that little girl with a helicopter. Thanks again for the footage! This will go viral! Congrats being in the right place at the right time with a cam and a RU-vid Channel!
First, if I had a child who had a heart condition that required medication, I'd take that medication with me regardless of whether or not it was just a day trip. You never know what might happen, especially in an area as desolate as Carlsbad Caverns. Second, why should the restaurant at the Caverns give people free food? They'd have to pay for their meal in town, so nothing wrong with charging them. The Park Service doesn't own the restaurant. Bunch of snowflakes.
@@wtxrailfan I didn't realize a restuarant served them food. The report made it seem like the rescuers brought some but not enough for all, and then charged them for rescue food. As for the meds, I completely agree, and no one knew how long they would have to hold up there so getting the little girl her meds with important at that point, no matter if they messed up by leaving it or not.
Always carry meds, always. The parents cant blame the Park. Taking a child with a heart condition, on that hike, with no meds? What were they thinking? Some other man on the news blaming the Park as well. " No one told us ". Its a flash flood!!!! Those can travel for miles with little to no warning. That man on that news clip should look at flash flood videos before sounding like an idiot. You, as the tourist should always be prepared. Carry water, snacks, meds, emergency poncho, etc. Those items are small and can easily fit in a backpack.
Wow. Wow. Tremendous video. Scary how quickly this can happen. I was in a flash flood in Warren, Michigan in 2014 - they called it a hundred year flood. We were about to cross a bridge when the river turned into a huge lake and was coming straight at us.Turned the car around and high tailed it out of there.
Wow that is great filming of the flash flooding.watching in real time as its happening.Exciting to watch as it unfolded,thank you for sharing. Thankful you are so vigilant and kept your cool while you filmed. Will be interesting to see the after film. Hope everyone made it out safe.
Great coverage! I was a little worried that the flood would get ahead of you at another crossing but you were sharp in tracking it. Thanks for posting.
My daughter and I were just there about a week before this happened. I guess we got lucky that we went before this happened or we would have got trapped with the other people. I just showed her the video and she was shocked.
I must say you have a pretty big set for staying that close and getting this footage. This is on my "out West" list to visit, can't wait to compare my visit to this. Thanks for sharing it with us. Stay safe my friend. 🙏🙏
My friend was stuck right in the middle of mud slide, it was so close it made his tires come off the rims. Him and his family escaped through the windows of his pickup. Made it down to the train tracks and by the grace of God,caught a ride on the train to a small town then a big crew with Cats,front end loaders, dump trucks, and a large back hoe. Took him back to his truck. It pushed 3/4 ton pickup almost to the train tracks about 1/4 mile. It ruined his brakes,he got lucky. Ya never know about nature.
Wow ! My Dad & I (back in mid-90s) entered the park with a brief heavy rain thunder & lightning storm but no flooding and a beautiful Rainbow ! Fortunately, we made the last tour of the day going down the shaft route and afterwards the bats remained inside the Cave because of the storm !
Well your life is rarely boring. I kept trying to think you to the next curve that was down the road that might get you stuck on a little island. Glad you're safe brother!! miss you!!
we went to carlsbad years ago this would have scared me to bits. was the cave ruined any? glad everyone is safe. use to live in phoenix we were glad to get out of PE so folks could sleep in our gym. I never fully understood why till I saw this. WOW they arent kidding when they say flash flood stay away from dry river beds etc
Yep, you the only one that got the video-good job. I was monitoring these storms on weather radar as it happened. Caverns took direct hit. If these storms hit 5-miles further NW, this would have been Carlsbad itself--Which happened last summer. Mike-Carlsbad, NM.
This is the most incredible piece of footage. If you have ever wanted to see what really happens with a flash flood- here it is. I hope some news stations paid thusguy for some of this footage.
i'm glad you posted this before you drowned! 😂 and really you don't have to tell people that you have never been that close to a flood because if you had you wouldn't be now! spectacular footage of natures wrath
I lived in NM for 5 yrs. This is crazy, Carlsbad only gets about 13 inches of rain a year. Where I lived in Alamogordo, we were lucky to get 6 inches a year. What an amazing video.
Shawn thks for the excellent videos, you obviously have never seen a flash flood in person glad your safe!! Most of us that live in the Sw and TX this is normal for these areas!! It's sad, but even people who have lived in these areas still tempt fate and end up losing their lives 😢
I've watched many videos, but yours is by far the scariest. The footage you have of the huge wall of water coming straight at you is unlike anything I've ever seen. Unreal.
Maybe not in that particular place but rain and flashfloods happen every year in the Southwest US, especially in late summer and early fall. And that riverbed, while dry most of the time, was created by floods like that.
Down at Whites City just out of the National Park. But it chased me down 6 miles and then I saw where it was going to flow to, so I waited for it down by 62. It started chasing me at its beginning, just below Walnut Canyon Vista Trailhead. I was here when it started to flow. Dropped pin maps.app.goo.gl/35Hq9gDmdiKNym5s5 Literally experienced the whole thing from where it started, through Whites City at the bottom if the hill, and under Hwy 62. Dropped pin maps.app.goo.gl/jYcetqqoSFERDNSd9
