Ruidoso Resilience: How a community is recovering from deadly flooding a year later

RUIDOSO, N.M. (KVIA) -- It's been two years since wildfires scorched areas surrounding the Village of Ruidoso high in the Sierra Blanca mountains. Just a year ago this week, heavy rains on those burned areas sent runoff rushing down the Rio Ruidoso -- causing deadly flash flooding.

Three people died, including two children.

Flooding also caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

ABC-7's Andrew J. Polk went back to some of the hardest-hit areas and talked with community members -- including Ruidoso's mayor -- and business owners about their recovery, and what it will take to build up Ruidoso's resilience.

Our crews went as far up as we could in the Upper Canyon, into the South Fork burn scar area to the west of Ruidoso near the boundary with the Mescalero reservation.

On a street once lined with homes and cabins for years -- only the chimneys and charred stumps remain.

We also revisited areas directly damaged by the floods. Some plots have been cleared, while other damaged structures remained.

What may be surprising to some who haven't visited though is how business are faring.

On Sudderth Drive, one of the main business streets, most shops are open with new construction and tourist traffic present in the middle of the week. Many businesses there have remained open through the fires and floods the higher elevation of Sudderth meant there wasn't much damage there, despite being just a stones throw away from the river.

"Every time it rains, we have the potential because of the burn scars on the South Fork and Salt [fires]," said Village of Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford. "So there's that apprehension. But if you go down in the Midtown area, you know, most all of our buildings are full with businesses. Are they're being remodeled or new ones have been built. So there's a lot of optimism."

Mayor Crawford said despite the struggle to overcome the initial damage, the community is rebounding even if it will take years to fully recover and build up to meet the new reality.

Last year, local, state and national officials promised assistance in the immediate aftermath of the worst of the floods. But Crawford said there's been a lot of red tape to make that funding become a reality, particularly when it comes to clearing the homes and structures now considered in the path of flooding.

"Well, that's been a long time coming because there's been several different programs that the federal government has that we found out in the scheme of things," Crawford said. "We've been working on some sort of a buyout program. So we were fortunate enough to work with a USDA program and the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) on a $230 million buyout program."

Anything in the floodway next to the river may have to be removed, and new or extensively-repaired structures in the expanded floodplain will have to meet new standards. It's an ongoing process, expected to take years more to complete.

"It'll all be green space permanently," Crawford said. "Once it's bought out in this program, it has to be permanently. You know, it'll be mowed and we may be able to put some gravel walking trails through there, but there won't be any permanent structures allowed." 

Those new building standards are expected to change the shape of the community.

"A lot of things change, especially with the burn scars," Crawford said. "A lot of the river channels that widened, deepened, been scoured down to bedrock. So there's a lot of mitigation that we're having to look at hardening the river, you know, with natural looking rock and maybe concrete. We're looking at increasing the size of the culverts. This all comes from the floodplain studies, funding that we've received and that we will receive for new roads and utilities."

Those new flood maps include the area of the Riverview RV park, which is where 7 year-old Sebastian and 4 year-old Charlotte Trotter were swept away from by the record flood waters the evening of July 8, 2025. A memorial cross now stands on the site, also dedicated to Benjamin Feagin and the Trotter family's dogs, who were also killed in the floods.

An attorney for the Trotter family said they came to an agreement with the campground, and there is no legal action pending against the owners.

Further downstream, owner of Bears "R" Us Aggie Mendoza is holding on after a tough year. She almost lost her business after flash floods and mud from the Salt fire burn scar coming off Highway 70 washed away thousands of dollars of her wood carvings.

"There's still a lot of work, you know, a little bit a lot more work to do to clean up," Mendoza said. "And we kind of left piles of dirt on the side because we were kind of tired to clean up because we thought that we were going to close. But the tourists or the people, they're still coming and visiting."

Bailey Riddle is one of the owner of Old Barrel Tea Company on uphill on Sudderth. They and surrounding businesses made it through relatively unscathed, but the concerns linger for a local economy dependent on tourism.

"I think we were really worried that it would deter people from ever coming back," Riddle said. "And so whenever we had kind of gotten past those disasters and we felt like things were stable and normal and safe again and people came to town, we were just so grateful for them. And people seem to want to keep being here."

Riddle said business is on the upswing for them, but not everyone is seeing the same recovery.

"We're a small town, so we know a lot of our neighbors pretty well," Riddle said. "And we all talk about how we're doing, and some people are definitely down. But I think we we feel that we've recovered."

But beyond the natural disaster recovery, the community is facing another long-term economic crisis. One of the biggest remaining questions is of the future of the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino. In January of this year, the owners posted on their website that engineering reviews and environmental studies "concluded that the Racetrack is not sustainable as a public venue. We are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of everyone who attends Ruidoso Downs Racetrack, and our equine athletes. Continuing operations at the current site of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack is not feasible."

"We're really starting to feel that the racetrack, you know, is gone," Crawford said. "And so this is when we really see the revenue during the weekdays that are generated by the track, by people that come in and stay, you know, 2 or 3 months. So that's starting to (be) noticed. So we expect a downturn in revenue."

Riddle said that the economic pain is real - but the town is still working to move past that latest loss.

"Not to say it doesn't hurt because of course, like any loss of revenue-generating traffic hurts the town," Riddle said. "But I think that Ruidoso is in a place where we're no longer so dependent on those things. There's a lot of other attractions and draws. So I think, you know, obviously it's not preferred. It would be great if the racetrack could find a way to reopen. But but people are still people are still coming."

As for Mendoza, when asked if her sales have returned to pre-flood levels:

"No," Mendoza said. "No, because we're not having the racetrack. The racetrack did bring a lot of people to Ruidoso. But I'm still here because I can still pay my bills and I can still pay my electricity."

She's determined to make it right in the community she loves.

"It is going to get better," Mendoza said. "We have to know that it's it's going to take a couple of more years with the floods and the water, and we just have to work around it because I'm not moving."

She - and others - are working to stay resilient in Ruidoso.

Watch the full report Thursday on ABC-7 at 5, 6 and 10.