"The main reason was the South Fork Fire last year that burned directly west of Ruidoso," Grzywacz said. "The soil wasn't able to absorb any of the rainfall, and it runs right down into Ruidoso. Normally, if you had that vegetation still there, it could absorb it. For the Ruidoso monsoon season, it was above average rain but not record rainfall."

Watch the terrifying moment a New Mexico home was swept away in raging floodwaters on July 8. Several people died in the storm.

On Tuesday, torrential rain hit Ruidoso, a small mountain town and summer destination in southern New Mexico, and caused the Rio Ruidoso to overflow. The flash floods that ensued have killed three people, including two children. Emergency services carried out dozens of swift water rescues.

A house with a turquoise door became a widely shared image of flooding in southern New Mexico when it was swept past a brewery that was designated a safe spot for anyone seeking higher ground.

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson expressed condolences following the Tuesday, July 8, flash flood in Ruidoso that killed three people, including two children from a Fort Bliss family.

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The current map, as of Wednesday, July 9, of road closures by the Ruidoso All-Hazard Information Network, provided by the Ruidoso Office of Emergency Management, notes that many roads are washed out as a result of the rainfall. They include:

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.