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 main reason was the South Fork Fire last year that burned directly west of Ruidoso," Grzywacz said. "The soil wasn't able to absorb any of the rainfall, and it runs right down into Ruidoso. Normally, if you had that vegetation still there, it could absorb it. For the Ruidoso monsoon season, it was above average rain but not record rainfall."

Flash flooding from torrential rain killed at least three people Tuesday afternoon and prompted dozens of rescues in the Ruidoso area of southern New Mexico, officials said — the same area devastated by two wildfires last year. A house was seen being carried downstream by the fast-moving water.

The neighbouring state of Texas also experienced a major flood just a few days earlier, but with a very different outcome. The ferocity of the inundation in Texas caught forecasters and state officials by surprise, killing at least 120 people.

At least three people were killed by historic flash floods in a New Mexico mountain community that suffered devastating wildfires last year, officials said late Tuesday.

Monsoon rains over burn scar areas from last year's fires caused devastating flash floods in New Mexico, killing three people and prompting water rescues.

A house with a turquoise door became a widely shared image of flooding in southern New Mexico when it was swept past a brewery that was designated a safe spot for anyone seeking higher ground.

The village of Ruidoso was under a flash flood emergency as slow moving storms left people trapped in homes and prompted multiple water rescues.

Mexico has sent water rescue teams and firefighters to help in Texas after the holiday weekend floods that have killed at least 100 people, with many more still missing.

More than 2,100 searchers from a dozen Texas Counties, other states and Mexico are continuing recovery efforts to find more victims of the deadly flash flooding in central Texas.