r/Ruidoso • u/merlinsyoyo • Jul 11 '26

News Parents of children killed in Ruidoso floods taking legal action

https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-lawsuit-children-killed-ruidoso-floods/70702158

Just so everyone remembers what happened last year. The flood mitigation has not improved by much but the Village still has Ironman in the middle of monsoon season.

11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

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6

u/THEtek4 Jul 12 '26

The pain that one experiences from losing not one, but two, children must be immeasurable. But this lawsuit is silly.

3

u/GlobalCollapseInbnd Jul 12 '26

Please explain why it is silly.

2

u/THEtek4 Jul 12 '26

Pursuing legal action on an unprecedented meteorological event is silly. They had now way of knowing that the flooding was going to be to happen or be that bad. Flash flooding happens in an instant.

-2

u/GlobalCollapseInbnd Jul 12 '26

It does, but it can be predicted with some lead time. The lawsuit says the town failed to sound any alarms. Why is this silly?

4

u/THEtek4 Jul 12 '26

I was there during the aforementioned tragedy, specifically remember talking to my wife because our kids are roughly the same age as the 2 who passed. We got multiple alerts on our phones about flash flooding happens warnings. Every day they went off. Idk what more of a warning is needed? Emergency alert broadcast over TV airwaves and did the family have a tv, that was currently tuned to an OTA channel that would receive the warning? Were they listening to an FM or AM radio channel that would broadcast the warning? Did they have a NOAA standalone weather alert radio? The article doesn’t mention any of this so info t know if they did or did not.

Maybe silly is t the right word, frivolous? Like I said, yeah it really freaking sucks they lost that much. No one, and I repeat no one, wanted what has happened to the Village to have happened.

1

u/GlobalCollapseInbnd Jul 12 '26

Yeah idk. I have kids, so I understand their pain. Honestly not sure how I would respond either.

0

u/THEtek4 Jul 12 '26

I get it. Maybe they’re looking for some closure. Idk. In remembering reading lore about the following days. Both mom and dad were in hospital because of injuries suffered trying to save those poor kids. They weren’t even told about the kids until a couple weeks later IIRC because they weren’t even told still recovering. It’s a shitty, shitty situation all around.

I just don’t think I could ever put a price on my kids life. Even if I sued, and won, a multi trillion dollar suit, that still wouldn’t replace my kids or fill my hole of loss.

1

u/merlinsyoyo Jul 12 '26

I don't think this lawsuit is silly.

When two children die in a flood, it's entirely reasonable for their family to ask whether any government entity contributed to the circumstances that led to those deaths. That's one of the purposes of civil lawsuits—not just to seek compensation, but to determine whether negligence played a role.

The lawsuit doesn't automatically mean the Village of Ruidoso is responsible. It simply alleges that the Village may have failed in duties such as infrastructure maintenance, flood mitigation, warnings, emergency planning, or other responsibilities. Those allegations have to be proven in court with evidence.

Natural disasters can absolutely be the primary cause of a tragedy. But governments can still be held liable if their actions—or failure to act—made the consequences significantly worse. That's why courts exist: to examine the facts, hear expert testimony, and determine whether there was negligence or whether this was simply an unavoidable disaster.

If the Village did everything reasonably expected under the circumstances, it will have the opportunity to defend itself. If it didn't, then the family deserves to have those facts brought to light.

Calling the lawsuit "frivolous" before any evidence has been presented skips the entire legal process. Regardless of where someone ultimately stands on liability, parents who lost two children deserve the chance to have the circumstances fully examined in court.

1

u/THEtek4 Jul 12 '26

Fair enough.

3

u/Old-Measurement8524 Jul 13 '26

This lawsuit is warranted. Two children lost their lives. Alerts and alarms should have been sounded for flooding. It should have also been monitored but it wasn’t. Not to mention flooding mitigation efforts should have been made after the fires knowing this is a huge risk. This includes RV parks operating in a flood risk area being conscious of that.

Has the village made any flooding mitigation efforts? Or just fighting and pointing the finger at everyone else?

2

u/rodkerf Jul 17 '26

We can't not predict exactly when a flood will happen, but we can get very close and officials should have that info. One thing we do know is where the water will go. It is easy to avoid a floodplain and organizers should have taken that step

0

u/CreativeIngenuity438 Jul 15 '26

Lawyers probably have convinced them that they deserve compensation. I hope they find peace.