Sandbags protect a building in Ruidoso, New Mexico after floods swept through town in July of 2024. This week's floods rose significantly higher. Photo: The Washington Post

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.

Residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico, were glued to the windows of a riverside brewery where they were sheltering from a flash flood that swept through the town, carrying rocks, debris and even an entire house.

The flash flooding that hit the US state on Tuesday killed three people, including a 4-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy.