Woman trapped in tree, bridge destroyed, landspout spotted in ‘extreme’ Ruidoso burn scar flooding

Floodwaters race past homes in Ruidoso on Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Albuquerque).

Monsoon rains continue to pummel the burn scar of the South Fork and Salt fires in the Ruidoso Village area, causing widespread flooding and damage, according to the latest reports from the National Weather Service.

Between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, the service confirmed 10 flash flood reports and one sighting of a landspout , a relatively rare tornado-like event caused by the thunderstorm.

Flash floods poised to continue in disaster areas through monsoon season

According to the service: The floods destroyed a bridge on Main Road about two miles west of the center of Ruidoso. Floods carried the roof of a home and a car downstream. And a woman was rescued after being trapped in a tree due to “high rushing waters.”

“This is extreme flash flooding,” Brian Guyer, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told Source New Mexico on Wednesday.

That means the floods pose life-threatening hazards, including to people seeking shelter, Guyer said.

“There’s parts of homes being pulled downstream, water rescues, people being picked up from helicopters because they’re stranded,” he said. “Large debris flows, mud, rocks, culverts moving down the street.”

The South Fork and Salt fires ignited in mid-June and went on to burn more than 30,000 acres. They are mostly contained, thanks in part to the arrival of early monsoon rains that also brought floods and debris flows.

Rain falling on burned scars doesn’t absorb as well into the soil, and there is less vegetation to hold back floods and debris flows.

The July 9 floods were the second major flood event that has occurred in the area since the fires started. The other major floods, about a week ago, were primarily along a stretch near the Salt Fire burn scar. Rains on Tuesday caused overflowing canyons in and around Ruidoso, Guyer said.

The risk of floods continues today, according to the National Weather Service. A flood watch is in effect in the area until midnight.

See a map below of the latest flood reports: