Tables at New Mexico State University's Branson Library are covered in decades-old pages. They are part of Hatch's history spanning eight decades to when the village was incorporated.

The department of archives is helping to preserve hundreds of pages in documents that were soaked in the floods two weeks ago.

"We froze them and then took them out of the freezer to air dry naturally," said Steve Hussman of New Mexico State University.

Hatch's municipal clerk Kathleen McConnell said the majority of the documents, which contained ordinances and resolutions dating back to 1927, were damaged in the flood. Although they were kept in a fire-proof container, it was not water resistant.

The documents will be kept at Branson Library a few more days before returning to Hatch, where the municipal clerk intends to have them put on microfilm.