COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. — Arizona State Governor Doug Ducey issued a declaration of emergency Friday morning in response to flash flooding in Coconino County.
The declaration allows response efforts to receive $200,000 from the state government.
"This Declaration of Emergency will give those working to protect others the tools they need to keep our communities safe," the governor's office said.
The move comes after Coconino County Chair of the Board of Supervisors Matt Ryan and Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy both declared states of emergency Thursday night due to flooding caused by monsoon showers and storms.
The declarations opened up emergency funding from city and county governments and also acted as a formal request for assistance from the state.
Flagstaff residents have been dealing with the flooding throughout the past week after storms sent rain onto the Museum Fire burn scar, causing debris, water, mud and more to flow down city streets and into people's homes.
Coconino County officials said two rain events this past week have brought issues to east side neighborhoods.
"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,” said Lucinda Andreani, deputy manager of Coconino County and one of the incident commanders for the Museum Fire flood area.
Officials said it wasn't clear what the severity of flooding would be on the city after two years of “non-soon” activity.
“There was some questioning as to whether we would see these flood events or not,” City of Flagstaff Public Works Director Andy Bertelsen explained.
As more rain is expected in the 2021 monsoon season, officials anticipate debris will continue to come off the burn scar.
“As we get events we will continue to get a certain amount of debris, a lot of mud sediment,” Andreani 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 from our 12 News YouTube playlist.