The children, ages four and seven, were swept downstream by a flash flood after the Rio Ruidoso river rose to a record-setting 20 feet.

Broken tree limbs, twisted metal, crumpled cars and muddy debris remained as crews worked to clear roads and culverts in the wake of Tuesday’s flash flood that killed three people — including two children — and significantly damaged as many as 50 homes, with one home carried away entirely.

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.

A man and two kids died in New Mexico after a flash flood wiped a house off the map. The tragic flood struck Tuesday around the mountain hamlet of Rudiso as torrential monsoon rains pounded an area already reeling from burn scars from recent wildfires.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood emergency for Ruidoso on Tuesday, warning of rapidly deteriorating conditions and rising river levels