Flooding continues to destroy homes and businesses and kill people in multiple states, with heartbreaking reports out of Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina.
The Rio Ruidoso flooding in New Mexico has resulted in at least three fatalities: a man in his forties and two children, ages four and seven. The children, Sebastian and Charlotte Trotter, were siblings who had been camping with their parents, who survived but were hospitalized. The father is a soldier at Fort Bliss. The family was at an RV campground when the flash flooding caught them.
🚨#BREAKING: Shocking footage has emerged of the exact moment flash flooding began in Ruidoso, New Mexico.
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) July 9, 2025
The Rio Ruidoso rose from 18 inches...
...to more than 20 FEET in under an hour
This is absolutely horrifying. pic.twitter.com/eguleYt6Ji
“Sebastian was an avid Pokémon card collector, loved to play sports, but was a huge soccer fanatic. He wanted to be a professional soccer player when he got older,” the kids’ aunt said, per People magazine. “Charlotte loved to be the center of attention. She loved to sing, dance, and make jokes. She also loved to give people makeovers with her play makeup.”
Texas seems to be the worst hit so far, with 170 people missing according to Fox7 Austin, and about 120 Texans dead, including the 20+ girls from Camp Mystic.
Related: Coast Guard Swimmer Rescues Over 160 Flood Victims
Gov. Greg Abbott told the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to ask that more Texas counties be included in Donald Trump’s Major Disaster Declaration.
JUST IN: Coast Guard swimmer Scott Ruskan, who PERSONALLY saved 165 victims in the Texas floods, has spoken out This man is the DEFINITION of an American hero! 🇺🇸 “Honestly, I’m mostly just a dude. I’m just doing a job. This is what I signed up for, and I think that any single Coast Guard rescue swimmer or any single Coast Guard pilot, flight mechanic, whoever it may be, would have done the exact same thing in our situation.” “That’s what we were asked to do and we’re gonna do it.” “Any one of us—if anyone else was on duty that day, they would have done the same thing as us. We just happened to be the crew that got the case.” I’d love to buy this man a drink or six. He deserves it.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) Jul 5, 2025
Central North Carolina, which seems so often to be an epicenter of natural disasters, has also experienced flash flooding in the last few days. WITN7 reported that one 83-year-old woman was killed when her car was swept off the road by the torrent. It is unclear if there are any other casualties.
Parts of central North Carolina experienced hazardous conditions overnight including 3 to 8 inches (about 8 to 20 centimeters) of rain and possible tornadoes, according to North Carolina Emergency Management. Multiple swift water rescues were conducted in Alamance, Orange, Chatham and Durham counties overnight and several areas have declared local states of emergency, officials said. About 120 roads were closed Monday across the state, but several major roads had reopened, including parts of Interstate 40 and 85 in Alamance County, according to Gov. Josh Stein’s office.
So far, most of the damage in North Carolina has been to homes, cars, and business, but more flooding is expected.
Pray for all those who lost everything or are still in harm’s way.
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