GLOBE, Ariz. — More than a dozen homes in Gila County were damaged after flash floods swept through the area Sunday. The flooding stemmed from the Telegraph Fire which burned 180,000 acres.
“This is insane and we can’t even open the doors to try and escape. Look at the creek over there rushing," said Chris Holyoak as he recorded video of the raging water from inside his home.
“There’s my front yard. Oh my God, Bonnie come look at the front yard!”
Chris didn't know if he and his sister Bonnie would make it out alive.
“I literally got on my knees and started praying, 'Lord let us live through this,' because I thought we were gone," said Bonnie Miller.
A flash flood warning was issued for Gila County on Sunday as the rain was expected in the area, allowing for some residents to prepare but few expected the severity of the floods.
“See the truck over there? See the water rushing? See that furniture over there? That was on our front porch. The fence is torn down from the force of the water," Chris described.
Chris and Bonnie's truck, the only way to escape, was washing away in front of their eyes. It was torture as the water filled with debris then began to take over the inside of their home too.
“This is, it’s coming in the door. It’s coming in the bathroom. It’s getting bad people," Chris said.
Thankfully, the flooding eventually subsided but the damage was already done to their home and more than a dozen others.
“It took out our fence. We don’t even have a front yard anymore. We don’t even have a backyard anymore," Bonnie said. "It literally took I would say 20 maybe 30 minutes for the whole thing to come down and be gone through. It’s pretty, pretty devastated out here."
The flash floods stem from fires and, in this case, the Telegraph Fire. The flames stopped but made their mark and left burn scars behind.
“Wildfires change the character of the ground and soil. Typically when rain falls some of that water is absorbed by the ground and the rest runs off. In the burn scar areas, the soil is much harder and it’s similar to the pavement where it doesn’t absorb any water at all," explained a National Weather Service representative.
Chris, Bonnie and the Globe community are now working together to clean up the area while also preparing for the worst in case the floods flow again.
“If you know it’s monsoon season, you better sandbag and I mean sandbag at least three to four feet deep especially with this debris. It was six feet, the water in our house," Bonnie said. "It’s never been this devastating. Ever”
Experts say the first one or two years following a wildfire can make the area more susceptible to flash flooding and in some cases, it could take more than three to four years for the burned area to recover.
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