The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood emergency for Ruidoso on Tuesday, warning of rapidly deteriorating conditions and rising river levels

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.

Raging floodwaters in Ruidoso in southern New Mexico killed at least three people, including two children overnight according to authorities. Officials confirmed a Fort Bliss soldier and their spouse are in the hospital with serious injuries and that their two children are among the dead.