Residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico, were glued to the windows of a riverside brewery where they were sheltering from a flash flood that swept through the town, carrying rocks, debris and even an entire house.

A man and two children were killed in a record-breaking flash flood that swept through a village in New Mexico on Tuesday, local officials said.

The village of Ruidoso is located in the southern part of New Mexico and is a noted vacation spot boasting camping and recreation amid its expansive forest landscape. World Population Review notes the village rose to a total of 7,600 in 2025. That was a decrease of the population by less than 1% in recent years.

A man who saw the flash flood that descended upon the New Mexico mountain community of Ruidoso, killing three people and damaging dozens of homes, described the scenes as "unbelievable."

The neighbouring state of Texas also experienced a major flood just a few days earlier, but with a very different outcome. The ferocity of the inundation in Texas caught forecasters and state officials by surprise, killing at least 119 people.

Ruidoso will continue to be under a flood watch, as more thunderstorms are expected Wednesday and next week. What to know, do.

Most notably, the flash floods in central Texas and New Mexico were triggered by slow-moving thunderstorms ... that small increase is the difference between a heavy rain event and a dangerous flash flood.