The summer rainy season in New Mexico usually brings daily alerts about the potential for flooding around the arid state.

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson expressed condolences following the Tuesday, July 8, flash flood in Ruidoso that killed three people, including two children from a Fort Bliss family.

Officials say that upwards of 50 homes were damaged by Tuesday's flooding. Emergency crews are working to clear debris.

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — The loss of three lives to flash flooding in the mountain village of Ruidoso is “unfathomable and unfair,” New Mexico’s governor said Thursday, as surveys revealed more extensive damage to homes than initially thought.

The flash flood emergency was declared about 3 p.m. on Tuesday by the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

The flash flood emergency was triggered at 3 p.m. in Ruidoso on Tuesday, July 8. Swift water teams were out conducting rescues, officials said.

RUIDOSO – Days after the most destructive flood in Ruidoso’s history, New Mexico’s U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan were given a tour of the worst-affected areas, from the Upper Canyon to Ruidoso Downs Racetrack.

The current map, as of Wednesday, July 9, of road closures by the Ruidoso All-Hazard Information Network, provided by the Ruidoso Office of Emergency Management, notes that many roads are washed out as a result of the rainfall. They include:

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an emergency declaration Tuesday night in response to the flooding in Ruidoso. The Village of Ruidoso confirmed that a four-year-old girl, seven-year-old boy, and a 40 to 50-year old man were swept downstream and killed.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said federal support is set to come to the village after deadly flooding.

A man who saw the flash flood that descended upon the New Mexico mountain community of Ruidoso, killing three people and damaging dozens of homes, described the scenes as "unbelievable."