TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Sometimes flooding can happen so many times the best thing to do is simply move out. That’s a possibility for some homes in a Foothills neighborhood where Pima County may buy and demolish some flooded homes.
Deep mud in the Finger Rock Wash gives you a good idea of the water and mud that flowed through part of Havasu Road recently.
The problem connects to the aftermath of the Bighorn Fire. That fire has raised the flood risk in some places to the point where Pima County may buy some homes it can't protect.
We visited Enid Whittaker in her home right after mud filled the house after a flood July 31st.
She was living through a rerun of a similar flood that hit her house last summer.
She says, “It’s life and death situation here. Every time it would rain I would be frantic. So I don’t think it’s wise to be here.”
She says it’s time to move out and move on. But who’d buy a house with a history of flooding? Maybe Pima County Flood Control. It has a program to buy homes that are a continuing flood risk, and tear them down.
That gets people out of danger and helps water flow away from other homes.
Joseph Cuffari of Flood Control says, “That also allows the flood control district to access the wash more readily available."
"We don't have to go through private property," Cuffari says. "We don't have to get easements through there, we can actually get equipment in there, maintain the channels for vegetation, sediments, soils, anything like that, to hopefully prevent future out of bank flow scenarios from occurring.”
This neighborhood around Havasu Road was already identified as a flood plain but the Bighorn Fire really raised the risk. It burned the ground cover off wide swaths of Mount Lemmon. That made it easier for water and mud to surge down the mountainside and into homes like Enid’s.
She’s applied for the County’s acquisition program. It’ll take time and negotiation to know if it’s the best way to get out of the mud and move somewhere she’ll never have that sort of trouble again.
She says, “And I don't know exactly what that process is. So just putting one foot in front of the other and asking for help when I need it, which I'm not. I never asked for help. But I am now.”
To find out more on Pima County's Floodprone Land Acquisition Program, visit the County's website.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
