In Ruidoso, New Mexico, local leaders publicly dismissed residents' warnings about flash-flood danger during the 2025 monsoon season, even as the village was still recovering from wildfires and floods that had destroyed about 1,000 homes. Mayor Lynn Crawford said in a June 30 radio address that he didn't understand why residents were afraid, and the village communications department urged residents to "protect our community from fear-based falsehoods."
The warnings proved prescient. On July 8, as Crawford presided over a council meeting and said the goal was to protect the village, storm clouds gathered over burn scars left by the South Fork and Salt fires. The Rio Ruidoso flooded, and two children—Sebastian Rowan Trotter, 7, and Charlotte, 4—died. Their family had been told by a campground host that the river's rise was a regular occurrence.
The Grist/ProPublica investigation highlights a tension between public safety and tourism. The village was hosting peak summer visitors and horse racing, and the racetrack had recently reopened after a $16 million culvert rebuild. Multiple arriving tourists said they saw no warnings online. The source is a single investigation; no differing accounts are included.