Three swiftwater rescues occur Thursday amid new round of Ruidoso flooding

More flooding in Ruidoso on Thursday afternoon required three swiftwater rescues, including of a person trapped inside a trailer, according to the National Weather Service.

The flooding is just the latest round to hit the beleaguered village of Ruidoso and surrounding area since late last week, when floods swept three people, including two children, away from a mobile home park. They were later found dead. 

According to National Weather Service reports, emergency managers and members of the public reported 10 flash flood impacts in roughly an hour between 12:50 p.m. and 1:43 p.m. on Thursday. 

‘Expecting it to be ugly,’ Ruidoso braces for new round of potential floods

That includes three swiftwater rescues, three road closures and other problems, according to the National Weather Service. One of the rescues occurred for a person “trapped in trailer” just south of town, and south of the Rio Ruidoso, according to the service. 

Post-fire flooding has continued to hamper recovery from the South Fork and Salt fires that burned more than 1,000 structures in the Ruidoso area last summer. After the fires, monsoon rains fall on hydrophobic soil sitting on fire-scorched mountainsides, where there is little vegetation to hold back floods or debris flows. 

Public safety alerts around 1 p.m. from the village noted that “rapidly rising floodwaters” threatened drivers along US Highway 70. The village also closed it for about an hour.

In addition to the swiftwater rescues and highway closure, emergency managers reported that the Cherokee Mobile Home Park was flooded and inaccessible. 

See a map below of the approximate areas of the rescues and closures: