PHOENIX — Arizona's Rim Country north of Phoenix has been plagued by deadly flash floods for years.
Just last weekend, the Sycamore Creek overflowed from the rain that fell across the desert. No one died in that flooding, but just a few months ago in nearby Tonto Creek, the flash flooding turned deadly.
While there's no final decision yet, on Wednesday, lawmakers in Arizona passed a bill in the House that would build a bridge over the same place where three young children drowned in flood waters in 2019 in the Tonto Creek.
Over Thanksgiving, Willa, Colby and Austin Rawlings, just five and six years old, tragically drowned when their family vehicle became stuck in the Tonto Basin floodwaters.
Now, state lawmakers are taking action to approve funds to build a bridge over Tonto Creek to help keep people safe in the Tonto Basin when that area floods.
The house bill would appropriate $20 million from the state general fund to build the bridge at the Bar X crossing in Gila County. It's been a long road to get there.
Federal funding to build the bridge has been denied multiple times since 2010.
Gov. Doug Ducey says lawmakers are working on the issue.
"There's more that needs to be done here of course," Ducey said.
"My heart goes out to these families. We have applied to our federal government. We're a growing state, an exporter of dollars. So we're working with the department of transportation for funds that are available to get that bridge built. That's what we want to see happen. It's also possible that there are things we could do with state funding as well."
In addition to the House bill, the state Senate passed its own version of the bill back in January. Now, lawmakers will look at both to come up with a final bill that will be sent through the legislature.
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