Governor Doug Ducey has declared a state of emergency in Coconino County following recent flooding. Multiple communities in and near Flagstaff have been impacted since heavy monsoon rains began last month.
The declaration makes $200,000 available from the state’s general fund for emergency response and recovery costs. It comes after multiple rounds of damaging flash floods have sent water and debris into neighborhoods at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. Emergency managers have issued several shelter-in-place notifications and highways 89 and 180 have been temporarily closed. In addition, soils in the area are saturated, which compounds the flooding.
Ducey’s order follows a separate emergency declaration last month after another series of storms caused substantial flooding mainly in the Doney Park area northeast of Flagstaff.
In recent weeks, near daily thunderstorms have brought heavy rain to the burn scars of this year’s Pipeline and Tunnel Fires, among others. The scorched soils repel water exacerbating runoff.
The Arizona National Guard was deployed to the county in July and to-date have filled more than 200,000 sandbags for flood mitigation in local communities. Rain is in the forecast at least through next week.
