Two young children of a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Bliss were among the three people killed in a record-breaking flash flood that swept through a village in New Mexico on Tuesday, local officials said.

A house with a turquoise door became a widely shared image of flooding in southern New Mexico when it was swept past a brewery that was designated a safe spot for anyone seeking higher ground.

Parts of New Mexico have experienced unprecedented and deadly flash flooding over the last few days, causing major damage. At least three people, including two children, were killed in Ruidoso.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency for the village of Ruidoso, in an area that was scarred by wildfires last year.

The neighbouring state of Texas also experienced a major flood just a few days earlier, but with a very different outcome. The ferocity of the inundation in Texas caught forecasters and state officials by surprise, killing at least 119 people.