ASPR Response to the 2025 New Mexico Flooding
On July 8, 2025, flash floods overwhelmed The Village of Ruidoso, New Mexico, a mountain town still scarred by both flooding and wildfires that tore through the region just a year earlier. Slow-moving storms dumped heavy rains on already fragile terrain, and floodwaters surged through neighborhoods. Over 200 homes were damaged, and water systems, roadways, and communication lines collapsed.
On July 10, 2025, President Trump approved an emergency declaration for the Chaves, Lincoln, Otero, and Valencia counties in the state of New Mexico in response to the emergency conditions resulting from the severe storms, flooding, and landslides.
ASPR’s 5 Lines of Effort to Strengthen Community Resilience with Behavioral Health Support on the Ground
The Village of Ruidoso was already in a delicate situation before the floods began. Many of the homes in the region did not have flood insurance and were damaged from the 2024 wildfires and flooding. The floods displaced entire families, and residents struggled with food and housing insecurity and job loss. Children were unable to attend school, and first responders were stretched thin.
The ASPR Center for Response Disaster Behavioral Health Program stepped in with five trauma-informed, community-centered approaches to support the emotional and psychological well-being of survivors, frontline responders, and displaced families.
Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) Support: Staff were embedded at the DRC, offering direct assistance, emotional support, and mental health resources to those seeking aid.
Youth-Focused Programming: Recognizing the need for structure and emotional care for displaced children, ASPR launched activities for kids ages 6 to 16 at the DRC, creating a safe space for play, learning, and healing.
Responder Mental Health: The team provided Force Health Protection to first responders and emergency personnel, helping them manage stress, grief, and burnout in real-time.
Hotel Outreach: With 183 survivors housed in non-congregate shelters, ASPR responders conducted outreach to provide psychosocial support and check on emerging needs.
Community Scans: ASPR teams conducted 20 neighborhood-level outreach efforts to identify individuals needing urgent referrals, distribute resources, and offer direct support.
The ASPR Behavioral Health Team was able to:
Conduct 34 community scans to identify urgent needs
Distribute 264+ mental health resources in both English in Spanish
Complete 158 direct encounters with survivors and responders
Complete 111 Force Health Protection encounters for first responders, community members serving affected populations, and Public Health Service officers
Complete 109 encounters with affected children through the youth-based activity hub
Behavioral health responders help stabilize not just individuals, but entire systems. ASPR’s response to the 2025 New Mexico flood reinforced the importance of prioritizing mental health for not only residents of an affected area, but first responders, to successfully support a region and bring the region and its residents back to normal daily life.
SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Helpline
The HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers free crisis counseling through the Disaster Distress Helpline. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.
To connect with a trained counselor, call or text 1-800-985-5990. Spanish speakers can press “2” for bilingual support. Callers also can connect with counselors in more than 100 other languages via third-party interpretation services by indicating their preferred language to the responding counselor.
Health, Education, & Human Services Recovery Support
ASPR supports state-led recovery efforts by coordinating federal assistance through the Health, Education, and Human Services Recovery Support Function (HEHS RSF) within the National Disaster Recovery Framework. Activated by FEMA at the request of the State of New Mexico, the HEHS RSF aligns federal resources to support locally driven recovery priorities. Through this role, ASPR leads federal coordination for health, education, and human services recovery, helping restore public health, health care, human services, education, and behavioral health systems to strengthen the resilience, health, and well-being of affected individuals and communities.
By building on the work that began in 2025, the state is better prepared to protect health and save lives during this year’s monsoon season. ASPR will continue to support the state’s priorities in preparing for this year’s monsoon season by identifying and delivering capacity-building initiatives that enhance state and local preparedness, disaster behavioral health, health care preparedness, and public health preparedness.
Technical Assistance Resources for Severe Storms and Floods
We encourage communities in flood zones to use ASPR TRACIE's resources to plan and protect health during severe storms.
