Wildfires rage in New Mexico
Xinhua News Agency, Houston, April 23 (Reporter Xu Jianmei) New Mexico Governor Michelle Grisham said on the 23rd that due to strong winds and dry weather, more than 20 wildfires are currently burning in the state, thousands of people ordered to evacuate their homes.
Grisham said at an online press conference that day that this year's wildfire season has come early. As of the 23rd, wildfires were burning in at least 16 of New Mexico's 33 counties.
At present, five counties in the state have entered a state of emergency, and the state government has allocated $3 million in disaster relief funds and activated the National Guard to coordinate the response.
In the northwest of the state, two massive wildfires have joined, burning about 17,000 hectares of land, the New Mexico Fire Department said earlier in the day.
According to US media reports, as of the 23rd, more than 12 large-scale wildfires were burning in the mountains and Great Plains of the southwestern United States from Arizona to Texas, of which the wildfires in New Mexico were the most serious.
In some parts of New Mexico, wildfires swept through villages and ranches, and large numbers of people were evacuated.
Over the past three months, parts of the U.S. Southwest have seen precipitation 60% to 80% below normal years, with parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Texas experiencing severe or "abnormal" droughts.