RUIDOSO, N.M. — A New Mexico mountain village prepared Wednesday for another round of monsoon rains as crews scrambled to dig out from a historic flash flood that killed three people, damaged dozens of homes and left streets and culverts clogged with mud and debris.
A man, a 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were swept away from an RV park along the Rio Ruidoso as floodwaters raged through the area Tuesday. The bodies were found downstream from the park at a distance between 1/4 of a mile and 2 miles (3 kilometers).
The two children were related, but authorities were not releasing their names. They had yet to identify the man who was killed.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said the community is devastated by the loss of life, a tragedy that is not unfamiliar for the popular summer retreat, which is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Albuquerque.