Flash flooding was a dangerous threat in Miami, Arizona on Thursday.
The homes off Canyon Avenue in Miami are closest to the Telegraph Fire burn scar area. As a result, they were hit the hardest. Homes were flooded and vehicles along the street are still stuck in the mud, affecting many people.
“The level just continued to rise higher and higher and there was all kinds of debris. A really scary moment was a giant propane tank that hit the bridge. The water level rose all the way to the level of the bridge and was splashing into the street and the street started to fill up,” says Joanna Twenty-Three, downtown homeowner and business owner.
Cell phone video shows dry washes filling up quickly, and water could be seen throughout downtown Miami streets, leaving businesses flooded.
Most of the rain came in and around the burn scar area, carrying mud and debris with it.
The mayor of Miami, Sammy Gonzales, says that is causing a big problem for the city’s drainage system.
“It’s going to be an ongoing issue. We have so much dirt and soot coming down, our drainage is getting plugged so we have to constantly go in and clear it out. The next storm we’re going to get, guess what, it’s going to be plugged up again. So, we just have to stay on top of it. If we don’t stay on top of it, it’s going to be worse than what we had,” says Mayor Sammy Gonzales, City of Miami.
Much of the water has subsided so the cleanup process has begun.
City crews even used snow plow trucks to remove the mud and debris from streets.
They plan to focus on the downtown area Friday.
