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Parts of Arizona have been hit by devastating flooding, with the city of Flagstaff declaring a state of emergency after being inundated with torrents of water that turned the streets into murky, swift streams.
In a widely shared video, a person shouting “Oh my God! filmed as a Toyota Prius was shown being quickly washed down a Flagstaff street in a raging swell of dark water. The city, located among the mountains of northern Arizona and believed to be a gateway to the Grand Canyon, has been bombarded by several days of rain, prompting local authorities to urge people to take shelter on the spot.
“The water was flowing through the front door, and all we could do was try to block the door and keep more water out,” said David Gilley, a local resident, who filmed waist-deep water collecting outside her window after 2.5 inches of rain fell in just two days.
Monsoon rains also swelled the Colorado River, causing a flash flood that killed a person rafting the Grand Canyon. Such flooding has long been part of an environment which, although largely desert, experiences intense gusts of rain.
Flooding in Flagstaff, however, appears to have been aided by scars from a severe wildfire in 2019 that scorched vegetation on much of a nearby mountain, allowing water to drain away. unhindered in the city.
“You see in the video of the Prius moving that there is a lot of mud going through, which is a contribution from the burn,” said Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center at the University. from Columbia.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey posted a series of tweets about the emergency.
TODAY: I issued a declaration of emergency in response to flash flooding in Coconino County, making up to $ 200,000 available for response efforts.
Severe flooding from wildfires creates dangerous challenges for communities in northern Arizona. 1 /
– Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 16, 2021
High temperatures have scorched the western states in recent weeks, with Flagstaff hitting 94 ° F (34.4 ° C) on June 15, the highest daily temperature on record for the city, breaking the previous record of 1974.
Lall said long periods of dry weather can help fuel the fires, leaving behind loose soil that can cause a wave of debris to flow when a sudden flood occurs.
The western United States has been plagued by drought for the past 20 years, with current exceptional drought and heat levels likely exacerbated by human-induced global warming.
“If we have drier, warmer conditions following active monsoon years, the propensity for fires and debris flows will increase, which the climate community is highlighting,” he said.
In 2018, heavy rains that followed a period of intense wildfire in California caused flooding and mudslides that injured several hundred people and resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of homes.
The climate crisis is also linked to the severe flooding that Europe is currently experiencing, with more than 100 people dying after the floods in western Germany and Belgium.
Climatologists, who have warned that flooding will become more frequent in some places as a warming atmosphere is able to hold more moisture, have expressed shock at the scale of the disaster.
Flagstaff is a popular “gateway city” for visitors traveling north from the Phoenix area to the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon National Park officials on Friday identified a Michigan woman as the person found dead in the freezing water after a flash flood swept through the overnight camp of a commercial rafting group along the river. Colorado.
Rebecca Copeland, 29, of Ann Arbor, was found Thursday near the camp which was swept away Wednesday night by a torrent of water that rushed into a slot canyon about a quarter mile from the group, which was using an established site. for camping, park officials said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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