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

The children, ages four and seven, were swept downstream by a flash flood after the Rio Ruidoso river rose to a record-setting 20 feet.

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.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham was in Ruidoso on Thursday, July 10, 2025, where she reported federal funding will be coming.

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.

The National Weather Service in Pueblo issued a flash flood warning Saturday evening for Costilla and Huerfano counties in southern Colorado. The impacted area is about 35 miles north of the New Mexico state line.

In the aftermath of the Texas Hill Country flooding, as well as floods in New Mexico and North Carolina, misinformation about cloud speeding is surging.

Severe thunderstorms will head east by Saturday, impacting eastern Michigan and parts of northern Indiana. One to two inches of rain is possible as the system tracks east, but some areas could see isolated amounts of three to five inches through the weekend.