Cleanup continues

Her eyes were bloodshot. Dirt was smeared across her T-shirt. But Conrada Figueroa pressed on. She and her family chipped away remnants of Friday’s tornado from her yard — sweeping debris into piles, pushing tree limbs into a corner.

This was Monday’s story: A community continued to grapple with the most destructive tornado in its history.

“As devastating as it is, we’re going to be OK,” Curry County Commission Chairman Albin Smith said.

Estimates of damage inflicted by Friday’s storm spiked Sunday.

The tornado carved nine miles of destruction through the Clovis area, beginning in southern Curry County and extending to Colonial Park in Clovis, according to Clovis City Manager Joe Thomas.

Block by block assessments revealed about 500 businesses and homes were impacted by Friday’s storm, authorities said.

A team from the New Mexico Emergency Operation Center determined more than 100 properties were seriously damaged and more than 50 were destroyed, New Mexico Emergency Operation Center Director Jeff Phillips said Sunday.

Hundreds more properties sustained minor damage from the powerful storm, he said.

“Something like this — it’s hard to accept. People say ‘why me,’” said Tony Bonney, whose niece, Conrada, lost the roof of her home in the storm.

Bulldozers buzzed through his niece’s southern neighborhood and throughout the city Monday. In Curry County alone, 120 truckloads of debris were hauled from neighborhoods.

“We’ve been able to make a good progress,” Thomas said.

More detailed damage assessments will commence today when Federal Emergency Management Agency officials arrive to determine what, if any, aid they can offer.

Certain thresholds of damage must be met before federal assistance is released.

Officials said about 35 people were injured by the storm.

Four tornado victims admitted to the Clovis hospital on Friday had been released by Monday, according to Plains Regional Medical Center Chief Nurse Liz Crouch.

A critically injured woman was released to her home Monday in accordance with her family’s wishes, Crouch said. That woman’s name is Heleneta Blevins, 90, her daughter, Betty Denton, told the Clovis News Journal.

Another victim, Walter Cravy, also 90, was in critical condition Monday at the Covenant-Lakeside Hospital in Lubbock, according to a Covenant employee and a family member.

Despite serious damage at a junior high school, Clovis Municipal Schools Superintendent Rhonda Seidenwurm said classes would resume at the end of spring break on Monday.

Yucca Junior High School absorbed about $800,000 in damage, she said.

“Our heating and ventilation units are now scattered throughout the community,” Seidenwurm said.

School officials combed neighborhoods and retrieved most of them, she said, and a local construction company tackled Yucca repairs Monday.

Only minor damage was reported at Parkview and Lockwood elementary schools.

The majority of homes in the Clovis area had electricity by Monday, Xcel Energy spokesperson Wade Whitehead said. He said about 250 would remain without power into today.

About 90 power lines were knocked down in the storm and Xcel Energy sustained about $100,000 in damage, officials said.

As of Monday, the Salvation Army had placed 183 people in hotels, according to Salvation Army Capt. Tammy Ray.

Those in hotels were encouraged Monday to find alternative housing within the next three days, Ray said.