All-time, one-day record rain at Phx Sky Harbor airport (2.9 inches and climbing). Rained and thundered throughout the night. Valley-wide flooding of freeways and intesections. Flash-flood warnings posted until later this morning. School and road closures everywhere. Water rescues underway. Regular media programming interrupted. Looks like folks, either in their homes or on the major byways and surface streets, aren't going anywhere anytime soon--or if they are, at a very slow pace (although some parts of the Valley are now seeing some atmospheric clearing). Can hear emergency vehicle sirens out my window. Triggered by remnants of a tropical storm that is pushing in from California, affecting Arizona (up through northern AZ into Flagstaff), Utan and Colorado.

Live coverage here:

http://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/local/arizona/2014/09/06/1881222/



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 11:17AM by steve benson.

wow!! I'm watching the link now. Crazy stuff. Stay safe down there.

We had a 100 year flood in St. George about ten years ago, tore houses into the river and so much more.

Then a couple years later we had another 100 year flood.

I think they need a new name.

Stay safe out there. My neighborhood spent all day yesterday sandbagging to prepare.

a 100-year-flood does not mean it can only happen once in a hundred years. It just means that statistically it's unlikely. You can get some years that are wetter, some are drier.

The real problem is (and the St. George river issue was this problem) that cities don't understand how waterflow works with river banks. This is why all of these people built next to the river. St. George approved it, and then when the river ate the bank, St. George said "not our fault!" The homeowner is left to pick up the pieces and argue with the insurance company.

I'm not stupid, I do understand why they call it that and I know exactly why houses fell into the river. It's one of the dangers of building on a flood plane. I still vote for a name change.

Good to see someone from St. George post on here!

Because a proper drainage system in a desert makes no sense, right? Even though they have a monsoon season.

A lot of the flash flooding is resulting from the hard-packed desert floor, which doesn't absorb water quickly or easily. We have plenty of water-retention basins throughout the Valley but this is a record-breaking rain event.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 12:03PM by steve benson.

I was in Toronto last year when they got 7" of rain in a 45 min period. Toronto has prepared for large amounts of rain - the last time that happened they re-did a lot of the flood control systems. So for most rainfall, not a problem. But when you dump 7" of rain everywhere over a 100 square mile area in less than an hour, even advanced flood control systems have a tough time coping.

It was interesting flying into Billy Bishop and seeing all of these things you thought were weird boats. Turns out they were buses flooded to the roof. Even the PATH was shut down in places. Crazy.

Amazing amounts of rain, some areas now over 5.00"! Go to http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/gmap.php?map=psr and click on precipitation then 24hr to see the amounts.

A friend of mine in the East Valley is sandbagging his house.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 01:17PM by steve benson.

Yesterday was Fast Sunday. I wonder if anyone prayed for rain.

Bwahahaha! LOL

Knowing how little rain Phoenix gets, I would have been always praying for rain! See, God listens. I do need to call our daughters in Arizona. Daughter in Idaho got flooded just several months ago. I was brought up to live on the top of a hill. We had a flood where I live back in the 1950s but that was 17 inches in a day and a half.

human caused global warming.

But Steve,

Didn't we have the series of 100 year old floods in the 1980s when all the bridges were flooded even I-10 leaving only Mill open between east and west. It might have been the late 1970s.

Those years are a bit of a fog to me. But I know they called them 100 year old floods. Sky Harbor runways were flooded to.

It might only be a 99 year flood or 87 year flood.

. . . it seemed like 100 bridges were put out of commission during that event. It led to reinforcement of the bridges, particularly in the Salt River bed. I remember how hard it was to get into work when all that was naturalupheaval was swirling around.

Speaking of which, right now I'm at home waiting for some of the lakes on the streets to subside before I trying heading into the downtown area which is having its own hydro issues at the moment. We just got a report of a mudslide across half the lanes of the northbound 51.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 01:29PM by steve benson.

I remember those years because I had to cross Mill. The lake wasn't there then. The water topped the Mill bridge and it swayed. The ASU entrepreneurs were busy on roller skates delivering food and drink to those waiting to cross the bridge. It took 4 hours to cross. I know many of my coworkers and I slept at work a night or two instead of crossing the thing.

Maybe it was a 500 year flood? I was always told it was job security for the bridge and road people.

. . . having been built years earlier with much more solid and reliable materials. In fact, as I recall, it was one of the few bridges to withstand the floodwater rush down the Salt River wash.

Those traffic backups, though, like you said, were horrendous. By the time you finally got into work, it was time to go home. :)



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 02:45PM by steve benson.

Big difference between now and then: While there is definitely lots of flooding going on right now in various areas, the Salt River is not running at all and they are nowhere close to "turning it on". Dams have been raised and there are many more robust bridges.

Stay safe. It looks like the storm system is pulling away to the ENE.

. . . which I guess means we're going to get socked again, gawddammit. :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 03:08PM by steve benson.

I think it's called "moisture."

"Pray for rain," the stake president said. Proves the church is true, right?

This, therefore, is nothing more than a coincidence--except for those who need a magical Sky Daddy in their lives to give their existence meaning.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 03:36PM by steve benson.

Ah. Well, I get your point, then. Still, it makes some people believe the church is true.

First time driving on the 10 from Tucson to Phoenix with it raining. The desert on each side of me looked like a lake.
My car wanted to hydroplane at 15m/h. I then got stuck along with all the other drivers for a about 40 minutes because a semi jacked knifed and blocked the highway. Overall it was pretty cool. I don't think anyone got hurt. AT home my AZRoom flooded over night, This morning my power went out. I hope it is back on when I get home so that I can watch The DOME.

I stayed home during the worst and ended up driving up the 101 to the office around 10am. Rains had backed off and there was no traffic. And NO traffic on the 101 south on the way home. It was amazing :)