Southern New Mexico was already parched by drought when the South Fork fire ignited on June 17, 2024. The blaze burned roughly 17,000 acres near the town of Ruidoso in the Lincoln National Forest and the Mescalero Apache reservation, killing two people and destroying 1,400 structures.
Since then, several disasters have hit in the scars left by the flames. Most recently, on July 8, torrential rain triggered flash flooding that inundated the village of Ruidoso, killing three people, including two children. In just 30 minutes of downpour, the Rio Ruidoso river swelled to around 20 feet high, a record.
While this level of rain can be dangerous on its own, the burn scars exacerbated the deluge. Research shows that intense fires can burn through vegetation and alter soil in a way that repels off water, increasing the risk of debris flows or mudslides for years, particularly in mountainous areas. As these compounding threats become more common with climate change, communities are struggling to secure long-term support.
Soil Shifts: Typically, soil and vegetation act as sponges during a storm, soaking up much of the water that falls from the sky or slides down a hill. Low-intensity fires—a natural part of many ecosystems—can actually add organic matter to soil and reduce the chance of rain-related runoff.
The trouble starts when wildfires get hotter and more severe. Sometimes topping 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, these blazes burn completely through vegetation and can create a waxy coating on soil that’s as “water repellant as pavement,” according to the National Weather Service.
During a storm, these conditions increase the risks of fast-moving landslides known as debris flows, which carry a slurry of mud, rocks, boulders and other sediment like the mixture that hit New Mexico earlier in July. When the flows travel downhill, they can move at the speed of a freight train, according to Jen Pierce, a professor at Boise State University’s Department of Geosciences.
“Even during very run-of-the-mill storm events that normally would never cause floods, that water can’t soak in like it used to be able to,” Pierce told me. “Of course it needs to go somewhere, and it runs off. So then, if you combine severely burned soil surfaces with steep topography and an intense rainstorm, then that’s what produces those flash floods.”
The threat can last for several years but is typically greatest during the first two years after a fire. These events have hit wildfire-prone regions hard in recent years. In 2018, extreme rain fell over a previously burned area in Montecito, California, and formed the deadliest debris flow in the state’s history, killing 23 people and damaging more than 400 homes. Communities in Los Angeles County near the burn scars left by January’s fires have been hit by multiple debris flows, The Associated Press reports.
Inside Scoop: My colleague Martha Pskowski visited Ruidoso last week and witnessed some of the damage left behind by the floods. I asked her what she saw. She reported back:
Ruidoso is a popular vacation destination where I live in El Paso, Texas. I watched footage of the fires in disbelief, recognizing places I had visited. But the community’s challenges were only just beginning.
Here in the Southwest, most of the annual rainfall comes during the monsoon season from July through September. Burn scars formed where the fire had scorched vegetation and soil. Flash flooding began last year and has continued this summer. Rain water rushes down the bare mountainsides and fills Rio Ruidoso, which runs through the center of town.
On July 8, between 2.5 and 3.5 inches of rain fell. A wall of water came rushing down the canyons into Rio Ruidoso, flooding an RV park in the area.
When I visited Ruidoso this past weekend, evidence of the floods was shocking. There were trailer homes stained by muddy water, RVs and trucks bent out of shape, uprooted trees and branches piled against buildings with shattered windows. Meanwhile, other parts of town on higher ground appeared untouched.
Walking by the banks of the Rio Ruidoso on a sunny Saturday, it was hard to believe this small river could swell high enough to wash away buildings and claim lives. But that’s just what had happened less than two weeks earlier.
The ordeal isn’t over. Every time it rains, Ruidoso braces for another flood.
Zooming Out: According to a 2023 analysis, more than 21.8 million Americans lived within three miles of a large wildfire over the last two decades. As many of these communities reel from the impact of the flames, they must also prepare for future threats like floods, representing what researchers call compound climate hazards. Another example is when hurricanes fuel wildfires by downing trees that are more likely to dry out and ignite, which I wrote about in March.
These compounding disasters can strain already limited resources for disaster recovery. For wildfires, much of the federal assistance comes shortly after a blaze is put out, but funds are rarely enough to support mitigation for long-term risk like floods in burn scars, The Deseret News reports. Communities could benefit from infrastructure like channels that can help contain and funnel debris flows or aerial seeding that can promote the regrowth of native vegetation, Boise State University’s Pierce said.
“As we have increasingly warm and dry temperatures every year, the likelihood of the fires and post-fire debris flows will increase,” she said. Though these events can be tough to predict and respond to, Pierce said that “if you can get a root in the ground, then that should help.”
More Top Climate News
More than 280 current and former NASA employees released a declaration of dissent against potential cuts to the agency proposed by the Trump administration, Alexandra Witze reports for Nature. The proposed budget reductions, along with recent actions, could affect a variety of programs, from climate research to space missions. The signatories of the letter, including at least four astronauts, say this could “compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission.”
The National Park Service removed language from signage that explained how women helped create the Muir Woods National Monument and communicated the racist ideology held by men credited with launching the site, Jessica Kutz reports for The 19th. Added in 2021, the language platformed The California Club, a women’s group that launched the first campaign to save what was then known as Sequoia Canyon. Other parts of that initiative detailed the history of the original caretakers of the land, the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes. These additions have now been removed following a recent Department of the Interior secretarial order, which directs the agency to determine whether placards at NPS sites “have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.”
On Wednesday, the International Court of Justice will issue an advisory opinion on countries’ legal obligations to tackle climate change, Annika Hammerschlag reports for The Associated Press. Led by the small island nation of Vanuatu, the case was brought forth by more than 130 countries that are struggling with mounting climate impacts, from sea-level rise to drought. The opinion will not be legally binding, but experts say it could help determine how major emitters should be held accountable in the push to slow climate change.
“Seeing large, polluting countries just continue business as usual and not take the climate crisis seriously can get really sad and disappointing,” Vepaiamele Trief, a 16-year-old climate activist from Vanuatu, told The Associated Press. “If they rule in our favor, that could change everything.”
Postcard From … South Dakota
For our latest installment of “Postcards From,” our reader Wayne Barnes sent a photo of burros (otherwise known as donkeys) at Custer State Park in South Dakota. He titles it “Burro Love.”
“It was like they were posing for me!” he said in an email.
Have you spotted any cool critters or nature views lately? Please send in your own photo for us to feature in our “Postcards From” section to [email protected].
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Kiley Price is a reporter at Inside Climate News, with a particular interest in wildlife, ocean health, food systems and climate change. She writes ICN’s “Today’s Climate” newsletter, which covers the most pressing environmental news each week.
She earned her master’s degree in science journalism at New York University, and her bachelor’s degree in biology at Wake Forest University. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Time, Scientific American and more. She is a former Pulitzer Reporting Fellow, during which she spent a month in Thailand covering the intersection between Buddhism and the country’s environmental movement.
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