Two young children of a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Bliss were among the three people killed in a record-breaking flash flood that swept through a village in New Mexico on Tuesday, local officials said.

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.

Parts of New Mexico have experienced unprecedented and deadly flash flooding over the last few days, causing major damage. At least three people, including two children, were killed in Ruidoso.

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.

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.

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.