Sunday, August 8, 2010

Monsoon flooding around Arizona


It's a pretty robust monsoon season so far across Arizona. The sheet flooding across the low-relief areas around Flagstaff caught homeowners and officials by surprise [right, photo by Jeri Young, AZGS]. The denudation of the slopes from the Schultz fire upslope will make these areas more vulnerable until they are revegetated. Many homeowners are taking steps to build barricades and levees around their properties to get them through this season [bottom, photo by Jeri Young, AZGS]. But builders generally did not elevate the homes above the terrain, meaning that the area will always be at risk of sheet flooding.

Links to news reports:

Flagstaff is still recovering from floods in Timberline and Doney Park.
Unmapped flood zones need updating now [editorial]
Flood mitigation efforts resume over burn area


Flooded east-side [Tucson] area rejected levee in '93

Wall of water rolls down Nogales wash

Floods and tornado
funnels hit Navajo Nation