RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico mountain village prepared Wednesday for another round of monsoon rains as crews scrambled to dig out from a historic flash flood that killed three people, damaged dozens of homes and left streets and culverts clogged with mud and debris.
A man, a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were swept away from an RV park along the Rio Ruidoso as floodwaters raged through the area Tuesday. The bodies were found downstream from the park at a distance between 1/4 of a mile and 2 miles (3 kilometers).
The two children were related, but authorities were not releasing their names. They had yet to identify the man who was killed.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said the community is devastated by the loss of life, a tragedy that is not unfamiliar for the popular summer retreat, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Albuquerque. Before summer rains began, Ruidoso had made much progress in recovering from last year's wildfires and post-fire flooding, but village officials acknowledged Tuesday's rain was too much to absorb.
“As bad as it is, it could have been way worse because people did heed the warning, did get the higher ground,” Crawford said during a radio address. “But we do have people that are in greater need today than they were yesterday.”
Dozens of swift water rescues
New Mexico's governor signed an emergency declaration Tuesday night and requests were pending for more assistance from the federal government as search and rescue crews fanned out Wednesday in places that had been hard to reach the night before.
Village officials continued to encourage people to call an emergency line if their loved ones or neighbors were missing or affected by the flood.
Emergency crews had completed dozens of swift water rescues before the water receded Tuesday, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars. Two National Guard teams and several local crews already were in the area when the flooding began, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Several roads remained closed Wednesday and the mayor said it would take time to restore utilities in some neighborhoods. He said damage assessments would take several days to complete.
Along the river, pieces of metal and other debris were twisted around tree trunks while broken tree limbs were wedged against homes and piled on porches. The water was thick with sediment.
The floods came just days after flash floods in Texas killed more than 100 people and left more than 160 people missing.
Residents urged to seek higher ground
In New Mexico, Crawford described an intense bout of rain that set the disaster in motion: “We received three and a half inches of rain on the South Fork burn scar in about a 90 minute period. That water came directly into our community and impacted the community head on.”
Officials urged residents to seek higher ground as the Rio Ruidoso hit a high-water mark of 20 feet (6 meters) above normal. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings throughout Tuesday, with an upgraded emergency notification coming at 2:47 p.m.
At the Riverside RV Park, owner Barbara Arthur and her guests scrambled up a nearby slope when the river started coursing through the site. It was the sixth time the river rose in the last several weeks and by far the worst, she said.
The high water destroyed Arthur's house, a nearby rental house she owns and floated three trailers in her RV park.
“It’s just a lot destruction you know, not just a little bit like I had last year where I felt like I could clean up and get back in business. This one I think has got me,” she said.
A vulnerable area after last year's wildfires
The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since the summer of 2024, when the South Fork and Salt fires raced across tinder-dry forest and destroyed hundreds of homes. Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.
Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
Local officials said a village-wide warning siren and evacuation system was not triggered, while tailored evacuation warnings were initiated that included door-to-door visits by emergency personnel, who urged people to seek high ground.
Shelters remained open Wednesday, while food banks and donation centers handed out supplies.
The flooding also hit the Ruidoso Downs racetrack, which had been preparing for a series of big races this weekend. Crawford said during a news conference that the racing season was canceled, meaning the village would take an economic hit as the track brings in tens of millions of dollars each season.
Crawford said people are anxious and afraid as the monsoon is sure to bring more rain throughout the summer.
“Yesterday was a good lesson — you know that Mother Nature is a much bigger powerful force than we are,” he said. “And that we can do a lot of things to protect ourselves and to try to help direct and whatever, but we cannot control.”
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Associated Press writers Thomas Peipert and Matt Brown in Denver, Hallie Golden in Seattle, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
Susan Montoya Bryan, Morgan Lee And Roberto Rosales, The Associated Press
