Flash droughts are sudden, fast-developing and brief dry events causing severe damage to crop and ecosystems. This study uses high resolution satellite observations to compare how both surface and root zone soil moisture respond with resultant impacts during flash droughts across different regions of the U.S. The findings show that while both layers start drying concurrently, deeper root zone soil moisture doesn’t recover as quickly as the surface. This difference creates temporary imbalance between the layers. Sometimes, precipitation before the event causes soil moisture to rise, so the rapid drop can suddenly take place in increasing trend. Surface soil moisture also responds stronger to rainfall than root zone, particularly during flash droughts. Flash droughts can occur in years that are historically very wet or turn into prolonged droughts in dry years. The impact on vegetation may take place immediately or be delayed by one to two months and can last for several months depending on region and vegetation type. Impacts of repeated flash droughts or those that turn into longer droughts are more severe. These findings highlight the need for effective early-warning systems to detect fast changes in surface soil moisture to protect plants with timely mitigation efforts.