Monsoonal rains turned deadly in Ruidoso, New Mexico, as flash floods claimed three lives. A four-year-old girl, a seven-year-old boy, and a man aged 40 to 50 were swept away by the raging Rio Ruidoso on Tuesday, as the NBC News reports. The tragedy struck a small mountain village already scarred by last year’s wildfires, proving nature’s wrath spares no one.
Floodwaters, fueled by 2024’s South Fork and Salt fires’ burn scars, hit Ruidoso with unprecedented force, killing three and triggering dozens of rescues. The Rio Ruidoso crested at a record-shattering 20.24 feet, dwarfing its 2024 high of 15.86 feet. This wasn’t just a storm -- it was a wake-up call for a region battered by climate’s one-two punch.
Ruidoso, a remote village of 7,600 nestled 180 miles south of Albuquerque, faced chaos as monsoon rains pounded hydrophobic soils left by the 17,000-acre South Fork Fire. Emergency crews performed 50 to 60 rescues in treacherous waters. While some cling to “climate change” narratives, the real story here is nature’s raw power exploiting man’s environmental missteps.
The flooding began on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, as heavy rains overwhelmed the Sierra Blanca range. Videos showed roads submerged and a home swept down the Rio Ruidoso, crashing into trees. Mayor Lynn Crawford called it one of the worst floods he’s seen, and he’s not wrong -- this was biblical.
“This one hit us harder than we were expecting,” Crawford told a local radio station. His shock is palpable, but expecting Mother Nature to play nice after wildfires torched the land? That’s a progressive fantasy divorced from reality.
Search-and-rescue teams worked through the night, pulling people from fast-moving waters. More than two dozen swift-water rescues were reported, with an unspecified number of victims hospitalized. The community’s grit shines, but the cost of ignoring fire-damaged landscapes is painfully clear.
The victims were carried downstream, caught in what the village called “rushing floodwaters” that pushed the Rio Ruidoso to 20 feet. “All three individuals were caught in the rushing floodwaters and carried downstream,” the village stated. No word on if they were related, but the loss of such young lives stings deeply.
Ruidoso’s Mayor Crawford offered condolences, saying, “The entire village of Ruidoso extends our deepest sympathy and compassion to these grieving families.” Heartfelt, sure, but sympathy won’t fix the burn scars or stop monsoons. Action, not tears, is what this town needs.
Mudslides and gas leaks compounded the chaos, with homes washed away or damaged. Crawford noted reports of these hazards, underscoring the flood’s destructive reach. When the river was a trickle, you could jump across; who foresaw this devastation?
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an emergency declaration Tuesday night, begging for federal aid. “This crisis demands immediate action,” she said. Demanding action is easy; preventing these disasters through better land management is the tough part liberals dodge.
Multiple bridges were submerged, cutting off parts of the village. The surrounding mountainous terrain, already flood-prone, turned into a death trap thanks to fire-ravaged soil. Ruidoso’s emergency operations center urged people to report missing loved ones via Facebook, a grim sign of the crisis’s scale.
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office are probing the deaths. A news conference was set for 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday to update the public. Don’t expect much beyond platitudes unless they address the root causes -- wildfires and poor land recovery.
The monsoon season, running from late June to early September, is notorious for rapid flash floods in this region. Last year’s fires made Ruidoso a sitting duck, and Tuesday’s deluge proved it. Ignoring burn scars while preaching “sustainability” is a recipe for more tragedies.
Hazardous heat, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, is forecast during recovery efforts, per the National Weather Service. Rescuers and residents face brutal conditions as they rebuild. This is resilience, not the performative “climate justice” pushed by coastal elites.
Ruidoso’s spirit remains unbroken, but the scars of fire and flood run deep. The village must rebuild smarter, not just stronger, to survive nature’s relentless tests. Let’s hope leaders prioritize practical solutions over woke environmental dogma.
