Extreme weather events have been a fact of life in the United States for centuries, though their frequency and intensity have been steadily increasing over recent decades – the annual average of these events was 6 per year from 1980 to 2019, now up to 23 per year from 2020-2024.
Now, with the nation still reeling from the flash floods that devastated Texas and claimed the lives of 27 young campers, New Mexico is now suffering its own flash floods. Monsoon rains have arrived in the state, resulting in the Rio Ruidoso in Lincoln County rising from three feet to twenty feet in under an hour.
