A tough night for Alamogordo with a microburst weather phenomenon that caused a roof collapse at S & T Bait and Tackle.

At approximately 650 pm Thursday evening a microburst appeared in Alamogordo with brisk winds, a swirling dust storm and chaos for a few minutes for drivers.

A downburst or microburst is a powerful downdraft of wind that originates from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground. These intense concentrations of sinking air can cause severe weather events and pose a threat to aviation and infrastructure

Characteristics: Winds descend and diverge beneath the storm. Air is not rotating, but instead dropping quickly downwards from the storm cloud in a vertical column.

A roof collapse ensued resulting in a power outage and a gas shut off for areas near S and T Bait and Tackle.

Motorists are advised to avoid the area surrounding 1st Street and Florida Avenue, where crews are currently addressing damage to the Granada Shopping Center. Please exercise caution to ensure your safety, per the Otero Emergency Response Team and Alamogordo Police Department.

No injuries were reported and people evacuated close by businesses for safety.

TDS is reporting an outage and working to get Alamogordo restored to normal services…

Additionally 2027 people were impacted by a power outage with a projected fix between 8:15 and 10:15 for most customers in Alamogordo.

Add to that strain on area public safety personnel and a fire was reported near Tularosa and La Luz with 10 fire service vehicles reporting…

Stay tuned to KALHRadio.org, AlamogordoTownNews.org and NewMexicoConservativeNews.com for further updates.