Flash floods hits New Mexico mountain town, leaving at least 3 dead
By Hanna Park, CNN
(CNN) — At least three people, including two children, were killed in a mountain village in southern New Mexico, after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding on Tuesday, officials said.
The victims were swept away by what authorities described as “record-breaking” floodwaters in the Village of Ruidoso in the Sierra Blanca mountain range, a popular summer retreat area.
The Rio Ruidoso, a mountain river in Lincoln County with headwaters near the Sierra Blanca Peak, swelled to an unprecedented 20 feet, shattering its previous record by five feet, the village said in a statement.
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, said Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, according to the Associated Press.
Videos shared on social media showed a house being swept away by flood waters and powerful river currents uplifting trees and leaving cars and motorcycles covered in mud.
The floods come on the heels of deadly flash floods in Texas, which killed more than 100 people and left more than 170 still missing as of Tuesday night.
New Mexico’s Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a state of emergency in the area and asked for federal assistance.
“New Mexico is mobilizing every resource we have, but Ruidoso needs federal support to recover from this disaster. We’ve watched Texas receive the federal resources they desperately needed, and Ruidoso deserves that same urgent response,” she said on social media.
Officials in Ruidoso had urged residents on Tuesday to move to higher ground as the Rio Ruidoso surged drastically from under 2 feet to over 20 feet in less than half an hour.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for the area on Tuesday as slow-moving thunderstorms brought torrential rain to the South Fork burn scar, an area affected by devastating wildfires last year that made it vulnerable to flooding.
The South Fork and Salt Fires of summer 2024 scorched more than 15,000 acres, destroyed 1,400 structures, and left the landscape stripped of vegetation, making the terrain highly susceptible to erosion and flash flooding.
Kaitlyn Carpenter, a Ruidoso resident whose art studio was destroyed in flooding last year, told The Associated Press she had been riding her motorcycle through town on Tuesday afternoon when the storm intensified. Seeking shelter, she joined dozens of others at the riverside Downshift Brewing Company.
She began filming debris surging down the Rio Ruidoso when she spotted a house floating by that she recognized belonged, the family of one of her closest friends.
“I’ve been in that house and have memories in that house, so seeing it come down the river was just pretty heartbreaking,” Carpenter told the AP. “I just couldn’t believe it.” Her friend’s family was not in the house and is safe, she said.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn D. Crawford expressed condolences in a statement, writing: “The entire Village of Ruidoso extends our deepest sympathy and compassion to these grieving families during this unimaginably difficult time.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Diego Mendoza, Taylor Ward and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.
