The village of Ruidoso is located in the southern part of New Mexico and is a noted vacation spot boasting camping and recreation amid its expansive forest landscape. World Population Review notes the village rose to a total of 7,600 in 2025. That was a decrease of the population by less than 1% in recent years.

The summer rainy season in New Mexico usually brings daily alerts about the potential for flooding around the arid state.

Parts of New Mexico have experienced unprecedented and deadly flash flooding over the last few days, causing major damage. At least three people, including two children, were killed in Ruidoso.

Stephanie Hopkins, a Whitehall High School graduate, lost her two young children, 7-year-old Sebastian and 4-year-old Charlotte, during a flash flood in Ruidoso, New Mexico Tuesday.

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The two children were identified as Charlotte Trotter, 4, and Sebastian Trotter, 7, according to their aunt Tiffanie Wyatt. She said their father, Sebastian Trotter, a solder based at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and their mother, Stephanie, both suffered serious injuries but survived and were receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Texas.

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.