A man and two children were killed in a sudden flood that extended by a village in New Mexico on Tuesday, local officials said.
The three were “sweeping downstream by the unprecedented flood waters that hit” the people of Raidoso, said village officials in a statement.
The authorities said that a man of about 40 or 50 years was killed, along with a 4 -year -old girl and a 7 -year -old boy. The authorities said they will not launch the identities of the victims at this time.
“The biggest catastrophe of all is the lives we lost,” said Mayor Lynn Crawford during a press conference on Wednesday.
In this image taken from the video, a house is taken to the sudden floods behind a noisy house, NM, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Kaitlyn Carpenter through AP
More than 65 others were rescued by emergency teams, authorities said. Three individuals were transported to the hospital to receive treatment, but they are all stable, authorities said. Preliminary findings show that around 35 to 50 houses were damaged or lost in floods, authorities said.
The authorities said they were prepared for potential floods due to their “multiple alert system”, which includes traditional siren notifications, door to door and “option to opt” for residents to receive alerts on their phones.
“We always urge citizens not to trust an emergency alert system,” said village officials on Wednesday. “The layers save lives.”
The noisy river rose “to a 20 -foot record, 5 feet higher than the previous record,” authorities said. The area was beaten with 3.5 inches of rain in approximately 90 minutes, which hit the “front” community, authorities said Wednesday.
During the bailouts, the authorities said that people found in the trees, in the water or trapped in their homes.
“The sudden floods occurred on Tuesday afternoon when the heavy monsoon rains fell into the areas of burning scars of southern bifurcation and salt fires last year, creating dangerous conditions that led to a rapid increase in water throughout the town,” said the people.
The National Meteorological Service in Albuquerque saying The first data placed the river crest at 20.24 feet on Tuesday afternoon, which would break the 15.86 feet record that was established on July 20, 2024.
The highest measure was 3.29 inches on the southwest side of the southern fork burns. But in general, between 1.5 and 3.5 inches of rain fell on the burning scar and up to 1.5 inches fell into the town of Raidoso.
In this image taken from the video, Flash floods look behind a noisy house, NM, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Kaitlyn Carpenter through AP
Before flooding, the National Meteorological Service issued Flash food surveillance on Tuesday at 8 am, followed by a sudden flood warning at 2:20 pm, authorities said. Less than half an hour later, a sudden flood emergency was issued at 2:47 pm, authorities said.
“As you can see, he suddenly appeared,” Crawford said Wednesday.
But the authorities said that they not only depended on the alerts, with the National Guard already instead before the floods began.
The threat to rain and floods has not ended in the area.
An flood clock is in force on this specific, noisy and captain area, for Wednesday afternoon because there is the possibility of 1 inch rates per hour with isolated downpours possible in the region. Another rainy round is also possible at night. If another downpour occurs, sudden floods can start quickly like Tuesday.
The village officials said they are in “close contact” with state officials and that the federal disaster assistance application has already been issued.
There have been multiple sudden flood events in the same region since the South Fork fire in June 2024 burned more than 17,000 acres. Before the event on Tuesday, noisy suffered serious sudden floods as recently as June 26.
A complete damage evaluation is being carried out, but it will take “several days” to complete, the authorities said Wednesday.
The authorities said that anyone with information about those missing in the floods should call their people who disappear to the direct line at 575-637-0328.