FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Monsoon rain in Flagstaff has left people dealing with flooding and clean-up, and some people even had to deal with water inside of their homes.
Coconino County officials said two rain events on Wednesday brought issues to east side neighborhoods.
Homes flooded from rain
Steves Boulevard in Flagstaff was one street impacted by floodwaters on Wednesday afternoon.
A wall of water came flowing down making the street looking like a river.
Melissa Speer and her family ended up with water inside of their home.
“The water was probably all the way up to here,” Speer said, pointing about halfway up an exterior window.
On the outside, Speer said she had to keep trying to move debris out of the way of her chain-link fence because it would pile up against the fence, trapping water.
“It was about one point, overflowing, and onto the car,” Speer said pointing over a chain-link fence. “I’m surprised the car even started.”
Inside, her home took on water. Speer said water was gushing into the bottom level of her house. Speer said she and her family did not have flood insurance, because they’re not in the wake of the Museum Fire burn scar.
“I had just like cleaned all the carpets and repainted everything because we moved in 29 days ago,” Speer said.
More flooding expected
Lucinda Andreani, Deputy Coconino County Manager and one of the incident commanders for the Museum Fire flood area, said the storm Speer and her family dealt with was one of two rain events that Flagstaff had Wednesday.
"We know that the gauge that’s close by recorded over 2.5 inches of rainfall in an hour and that equates to a 100-year storm,” Andreani said.
Andreani said the flooding also hit the Museum Fire burn scar and caused issues in the flood area. However, that was about one inch of rain and not as severe as what residents there saw Tuesday.
Between the two events, Andreani said about 10 homes had flooding inside.
“I fully expect we could be seeing events like this in the flood area particularly through the middle of September,” Andreani said.
Sandbags for residents to use can be found at Coconino County’s Health and Human Services Department at 2625 N. King Street.
Andreani said property damage should be reported to 928-679-8525.
Cleaning up and preparing
In the midst of the flooding on Steves Blvd, Cyrah Brewster’s car got washed away as it was parked in front of her house.
It was a 10-year-old car and completely paid off, but it’s now headed to the salvage yard.
“Boy did she go out with a bang,” Brewster said.
Up the street, Speer has friends from work helping her and her family clean up and shore up, before the next storm comes.
A GoFundMe has been set up to benefit Speer and her family.
“We’re just holding on by a thread for sure,” Speer said.
Arizona Weather
Arizona has seen its fair share of severe weather. Here is a compilation of videos from various storms across the Grand Canyon state.