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Three people are killed by flash floods in a resort town in New Mexico, and dozens of others are trapped in their homes and cars.

A state emergency official, as well as a statement from the village, said that torrential rains caused flash floods to occur in New Mexico on Tuesday. At least three people, including two children, were killed, while dozens of others were trapped in their homes and cars in Ruidoso's resort village.

The village's website said that the children, aged 4 and 7, and a male were washed downstream and found later dead. Rescue operations are underway, it added.

The video footage, which was widely shared on social media, showed a house ripped apart from its foundations and careening through the brown, muddy water of the Rio Ruidoso flood, while slicing trees in the process.

"I have seen the video." Danielle Silva, spokesperson for New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said: "We don't know who was inside the house."

Silva reported that emergency teams from local law enforcement agencies and the National Guard performed at least 85 rapid-water rescues around Ruidoso. Many of these people were trapped in their cars or homes due to flood waters.

Silva reported that the river rose quickly to a record-breaking 20.24 feet (6.22 metres) during the flood's peak. As the waters receded in the evening hours, authorities began looking for survivors among the debris. Four days ago, a flash flood along the Guadalupe River triggered by heavy rainfall killed at least 110 people and left scores of others missing.

Silva stated that the severity of debris flows in New Mexico was increased by a landscape that was stripped of vegetation by a wildfire, followed by flooding which eroded soil.

Ruidoso is a popular ski and summer resort located in the Sierra Blanca mountains of southern New Mexico. It's about 115 miles south of Albuquerque. Steve Gorman reported from Los Angeles, Nilutpal Timsina contributed additional reporting and Michael Perry and Bernadettebaum edited the story.

(source: Reuters)