AT LEAST THREE people are missing in New Mexico in the US after flash flooding overnight.

Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars, the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said.

No deaths were immediately reported, but three people were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. Search and rescue and swift water rescue teams scoured the town for the missing people, while public works crews cleared debris from the roadways.

The floods came just days after flash floods in Texas killed more than 100 people and left more than 160 people missing.

Officials urged residents to seek higher ground yesterday afternoon as the waters of the Rio Ruidoso river rose nearly 19 feet in a matter of minutes due to heavy rainfall.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in the area, which was stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires. A weather service flood gauge and companion video camera showed churning waters surge over the river’s banks into surrounding forest.

Preliminary measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet — a record high if confirmed — and was receding yesterday evening, (overnight in Ireland).

Three shelters opened in the Ruidoso area for people who could not return home.

The area has been especially vulnerable to flooding since last summer, when wildfires burned a tinder-dry forest and destroyed an estimated 1,400 homes and structures.

Residents were forced to flee a wall of flames, only to grapple with intense flooding later that summer.