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

At least three people were killed by historic flash floods in a New Mexico mountain community that suffered devastating wildfires last year, officials said late Tuesday.

As residents and businesspeople in Ruidoso assess the damage caused by heavy and dangerous flooding, others can find ways to help. Here is what to know.

Sandbags protect a building in Ruidoso, New Mexico after floods swept through town in July of 2024. This week's floods rose significantly higher. Photo: The Washington Post / Cont

Flash flooding from heavy rain killed at least three people and prompted dozens of rescues in the Ruidoso area of southern New Mexico, officials said — the same area devastated by wildfires last year.

"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."

Torrential rains triggered flash floods in New Mexico that killed at least three people on Tuesday, including two young children, and trapped dozens in homes and vehicles in the resort village of Ruidoso,

The neighbouring state of Texas also experienced a major flood just a few days earlier, but with a very different outcome. The ferocity of the inundation in Texas caught forecasters and state officials by surprise, killing at least 119 people.