Staff Reports
RUIDOSO, NEW MEXICO – Three people died in a monsoon flash flood in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on Tuesday after being swept away in flood waters that were so great that an entire house was swept downstream.
The three victims went missing during the flood on Tuesday and were found after the floodwaters receded. They were listed as being a man, a 7-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old girl.
The waters of the Rio Ruidoso River rose about 18 feet in less than an hour on Tuesday and crested at a record high of more than 20 feet.
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area Tuesday, saving people who were trapped in cars and homes, according to Danielle Silva of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Ruidoso is centrally located in New Mexico, northeast of Alamogordo. The mountain town had been hit by wildfires the previous year, and the floodwaters ran over the area stripped of vegetation.
The New Mexico flood came just days after flooding in Texas killed more than 100 and left more than 160 people missing.
