Parts of Arizona have been affected by devastating flooding, and the city of Flagstaff declared a state of emergency after being inundated with torrents of water that turned the streets into muddy, swift streams.
In a widely shared video, one person yells "OMG!" filmed as a Toyota Prius was shown being swept down a Flagstaff street by a raging wave of dark water.
The city, nestled among the mountains of northern Arizona and considered a gateway to the Grand Canyon, has been hit by several days of rain, prompting local officials to urge people to take shelter in place.
A firefighter searches for hot spots while cleaning up the northeast side of the Bootleg Fire near Sprague River, Oregon, Wednesday.
"The water was pouring in through the front door and all we could do was try to block the door and keep more water from getting in," said local resident David Gilley, who videotaped the waist-deep water and It was piling up outside her window after 2.5 inches of rain fell in just two days.
Woof! Watch the floodwaters in Flagstaff drag a car down the road!
Source: Taylor Landy pic.twitter.com/iu5Tzns0JQ
- KOLDNews (@KOLDNews) July 14, 2021
Monsoon rains also flooded the Colorado River, causing a flash flood that killed a person on a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. These floods have long been part of an environment that, though largely desert, experiences bursts of heavy rain.
However, the flooding in Flagstaff appears to have been helped by scars from a severe wildfire in 2019 that burned vegetation in a large area of โโa nearby mountain, allowing water to flow unhindered into the city.
"In the video of the Prius moving forward, you see a lot of mud coming in, which is a contribution from the burn," said Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia water center at Columbia University.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey posted a series of tweets about the emergency.
TODAY: I issued an Emergency Declaration in response to the flash floods in Coconino County, making up to 0,000 available for response efforts.
Severe flooding following wildfires is creating 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 ยฐ F (34.4 ยฐ C) on June 15, the highest daily temperature on record for the city, breaking the previous high set in 1974. .
Lall said prolonged periods of dry weather can help fuel fires, leaving loose soil that can cause a wave of debris to flow when a flash flood hits.
The western US has been affected by a drought for the past 20 years, with the current exceptional drought and heat levels likely exacerbated by human-induced global warming.
"If we have drier and warmer conditions that follow the active monsoon years, the propensity for fires and debris flows will increase, which is what the climate community highlights," he said.
In 2018, heavy rains that followed a period of intense wildfires in California led to flooding and landslides that injured several hundred people and led to the evacuation of hundreds of homes.
The climate crisis is also linked to the severe flooding currently being experienced in Europe, with more than 100 people dying after the floods in West Germany and Belgium.
Climate scientists, who have warned that flooding will become more frequent in some places as a warmer atmosphere can retain 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 freezing water after a flash flood washed away the overnight camp of a commercial rafting group along the Colorado River.
Rebecca Copeland, 29, of Ann Arbor, was found Thursday near the campground that was washed away Wednesday night by a torrent of water that passed through a slot canyon a quarter mile from the group, which was using a site settled down. camping, park officials said in a statement.
- The Guardian
