Floods in New Mexico resort town kill three, trap dozens in homes & vehicles

9/7/2025 18:29

Torrential rains triggered flash floods in New Mexico that killed at least three people on Tuesday, including two young children, and trapped dozens in homes and vehicles in the resort village of Ruidoso, a state emergency official and a village statement said.



The children, aged four and seven years old, and a man were swept downstream and later found dead, the mountain resort village said late Tuesday on its website, adding that rescue operations were underway.



Dramatic video footage on social media and various news outlets showed an entire house, ripped from its foundations, careening downstream through the brown, muddy waters of the flood-engorged Rio Ruidoso, side-swiping trees as it went.



"I've seen the video. We don't know if anyone was in the house," said Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.



Emergency teams organised by local law enforcement and the National Guard conducted at least 85 swift-water rescues in and around Ruidoso, many of them people stranded in cars and homes by elevated flood waters, Silva said.