Albuquerque church still recovering from June flooding

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A small church in northeast Albuquerque is still recovering from the devastating flooding that ravaged the metropolis last month.

It was a morning Vince Carrillo didn’t expect. When the senior pastor of X Factor Church arrived at the building, there was water everywhere.

“The water came from Montclaire and came here,” he said. “Then this area just became a watering hole.” It didn’t stop there.

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“The water needed a place to flow, so it flowed here, to our window well,” he explained.

Carrillo said the water filled the basement, hitting the 10-foot ceilings and overflowing onto the stairs. He said the flooded basement destroyed about $10,000 worth of computer equipment and $10,000 worth of other items, including materials for their annual fall festival and holiday season.

“Unfortunately, we lost 10 years of Christmas decorations,” Carrillo said. He said they had four days to clean up and even hired a professional company to help.

“It was really amazing how this community came together; all the church members have an incredible heart to serve,” he said. “Now we have to paint the floors there and redo them.”

A month after the flood, the church is still trying to recover. Without flood insurance, the church is accepting direct donations. They have a GoFundMe to replace what was damaged.

“We are a church that really wants to be a part of this community, so losing our Christmas decorations and a lot of our fall carnival decorations really hinders our ability to reach this community,” Carrillo said.

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In the meantime, he said, they are moving their storage facility to prevent future water from standing on their property. To donate to the church, click here.

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