Flash flood sweeps through town east of Phoenix

PHOENIX – A river of rushing water, mud and debris swamped an area east of metro Phoenix on Thursday, shutting down a major highway for hours and leaving behind a mess.

Heavy rain dropped 2-4 inches in the Miami-Globe area late in the afternoon, triggering a flash flood that swamped streets and caused a rock slide on U.S. 60. The road closure stretched west to Superior.

The road was closed for about four hours, the Arizona Department of Transportation said.

“It was a pretty intense thunderstorm,” Jaret Rogers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday.

Water is a powerful force of nature. Listen & watch this creek in Miami.
Thanks to @apsFYI Supervisor Bryan G for sharing.
Still raining in the area.
Please follow all safety guidelines around flash floods.
We are still working on getting power restored. pic.twitter.com/aqCTtNFI0h

— Richard Rosales (@APS_Rich) July 29, 2021

The @GilaCountySO sending me this video of flooding in the Telegraph fire burn scar area in Miami, AZ. You can see the mud and debris carried along with it. This is a big problem for the city’s drainage system. Cleanup underway. The concern is that more storms are ahead. @abc15 pic.twitter.com/IBFaJQodJP

— Ashley Paredez (@AshleyOnABC15) July 30, 2021

The weather service issued a flash flood warning for Gila County around 2 p.m.

The hard rain soaked the burn scar left by the Telegraph Fire. The human-caused June blaze, the sixth-largest wildfire in Arizona history, roared through nearly 181,000 acres.

“We’ve already had several flash flood warning throughout July for the Miami-Globe area. It’s very vulnerable to flash flooding,” Roger said. “Basically, anytime a thunderstorm develops over the burn scar there, Miami-Globe is certainly threatened in some cases.”

Forecasters said there was a 50% chance of rain in the area on Friday but by evening would likely taper off to 30%.

Miami-Globe is about 70 miles from downtown Phoenix.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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