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New Mexico flooding leaves 3 dead as fast-moving water sweeps through mountain resort town
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Just days after flash flooding devastated the Hill Country of Texas, killing more than 100, three people have died in New Mexico after monsoon rains triggered flash flooding.
A man and two young children, a 4-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy, were swept away by floodwaters on Tuesday, the village of Ruidoso said in a statement. The situation was so severe in the popular summer retreat that an entire house was caught on camera being swept downstream.
“Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible tragedy,” Mayor Lynn Crawford said in a statement.
“The entire Village of Ruidoso extends our deepest sympathy and compassion to these grieving families during this unimaginably difficult time. We are united in our sorrow and our commitment to supporting one another as we face this devastating loss together.”
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The Rio Ruidoso rose to a record-breaking 20 feet, which is five feet higher than its previous record, the village said.
The devastation is attributed to the torrential rainfall over burn scar areas from the South Fork and Salt fires that occurred last year.
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Tucker Davis, who lost his home in last year’s South Fork Fire, walks his dogs as localized flash flooding moves through a river in midtown Ruidoso, New Mexico, U.S. June 26, 2025. (Kaylee Greenlee)
“Emergency crews conducted 50-60 swift-water rescues during the event,” a village of Ruidoso media release said.
The water had receded by the evening and search and rescue were scouring the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways. Some cars were left stranded in the mud.
In this image taken from video, a house is carried away by flash flooding behind a house in Ruidoso, N.M., Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Kaitlyn Carpenter )
“Tonight, I signed an emergency declaration request to get federal response teams and repair resources on the ground immediately. We’re encouraged to learn that additional federal resources are already on the way,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said on Facebook.
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“New Mexico is mobilizing every resource we have, but the Village of Ruidoso needs federal support to recover from this disaster. We’ve watched Texas receive the federal resources they desperately needed, and Ruidoso deserves that same urgent response,” she concluded.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.
RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.
“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”
The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.
RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.
“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.
“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”
Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
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“What haven’t you noticed, right? The whole area just exploded,” said Scott Shonebarger.
Scott Sanders, the executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said companies like Intel and other industries are a main driver for thousands of people moving to Delaware County.
With the big boom comes an urgent need for more housing.
John Wicks is the developer at Real Property Design and Development.
He has spent over a decade building homes for families in Delaware County.
Wicks said the Olentangy School District is one of the hottest spots for new homes.
“I started with one high school up until the 90s, then now we’re up to four up to five different high schools so it’s just a big draw,” said Wicks. “It’s a beautiful community.”
The district has grown into the fourth largest in Ohio with a new elementary school opening next year, and a fifth high school in 2028.
Wicks said the growth has presented some challenges over the years like labor shortage and some opposition.
“It’s become a big issue for a lot of people that live in and around these areas. They tend to oppose new growth and new development, so restrictions have gotten a little bit harder. Costs have obviously gone up over the last 20 years,” said Wicks.
The planning commission says between 275,000 and 350,000 people could call Delaware County home by 2040.
That’s up from 214,000 in 2020.
Scott Shonebarger said he supports growth but wonders when is enough.
“I mean to a certain extent I think you know at some point right you have to have some sort of boundaries I think, getting into the fact that now you have five high schools,” said Shonebarger. “What’s the limit?”
Archive photos show a sea of green in Florida. What usually causes harmful algal blooms along the Sunshine State’s coasts?
Harmful algal blooms — out-of-control colonies of microscopic algae — are a “growing problem” in every “U.S. coastal and Great Lakes state,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They affect the “health of people and marine ecosystems,” and can also have a detrimental effect on the economy, according to NOAA, especially in coastal communities that are particularly dependent on fishing and tourism.
Climate change, along with increases in nutrient pollution, could cause harmful algal blooms (HABs) to occur more frequently, according to the agency.
Harmful algal blooms can “produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds,” NOAA’s website states. Human illnesses caused by HABs are rare, but they can be “debilitating or even fatal.”
Sea of green? Aerial photos show toxic algae blooms, including in Florida waters
What are harmful algal blooms composed of?
Harmful algal blooms can be caused by a range of organisms, NOAA states, including “toxic and noxious phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, benthic algae, and macroalgae.”
Some HABs can make wildlife-killing toxins that negatively affect fish, mammals and birds, and can also cause human sickness or death in “extreme cases.” Other blooms, while nontoxic, can consume “all of the oxygen in the water as they decay, clog the gills of fish and invertebrates, or smother corals and submerged aquatic vegetation.” Additionally, some algae can discolor water, pile up on beaches or contaminate drinking water.
What usually causes harmful algal blooms along Florida’s coasts?
In the Gulf of Mexico, especially along the west coast of Florida, HABs are most often caused by Karenia brevis, which can turn the surface of the ocean a deep red.
Although there’s no way to predict exactly when a Karenia brevis overgrowth might occur, scientists can forecast the movement of a “red tide” when it does crop up by using wind and water data, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
They can last “as little as a few weeks or longer than a year,” and how long a bloom persists in “nearshore Florida waters” depends on a variety of factors, including nutrients, salinity and sunlight, reads the FWC’s website.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
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