At least three dead in New Mexico flash flooding

At least three people died in the village of Ruidoso, New Mexico, after heavy rains caused sudden floods.

Up to 8.8 cm (3.5 inches) of rain fell, which passes the Ruidoso river to a historic level. Flood waters have now retreated.

A man and two children died after being swept downstream, local officials confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Ruidoso village spokesperson Kerry Gladden said that CBS research and rescue teams were still on the ground, and a hotline was created for people looking for missing family members.

Ruidoso’s emergency teams carried out at least 50 fast water resumes in the region, residents asked to move to higher land.

Three people were treated for injuries at the local hospital, said Gladden in a statement.

Images of the social media captured by local artist Kaitlyn Carpenter showed that at least one house was swept away by flood waters, the mayor of Ruidoso, Lynn Crawford, unable to confirm how many houses had been lost.

Speaking at a local radio station, Mr. Crawford said: “It became ugly very fast”.

The NWS had warned that two “burning scars” around Ruidoso were a high risk of flash attachment, because the charred soil left by forest fires from last year would be “also allowed water as a sidewalk”.

The south of New Mexico was hit by forest fires in June 2024. Ruidoso was evacuated while two fires burned around 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of land on each side of the village.

Two people were killed and hundreds of houses were destroyed.

Subsequent reports indicate that the risk of sudden floods would be increased for at least two years due to fires, and that the probability of significant flood events in the region has been “considerably increased”.