Arizona: Evacuation Ordered on the Fort Apache Reservation as Flood Warnings Cover Much of the State

Updated 17:43 UTC, Nov 1

The city of Sedona ordered residents in evacuation zones 8, 9 and 10 to leave immediately on Sunday as Oak Creek rose to dangerous levels, the Arizona Republic reported. The zones cover the eastern side of Sedona along State Route 179 and the neighborhoods and resorts beside Oak Creek, including Trails End, Arroyo Roble, Amara Lane, the Rancho Sedona RV park and the Center for the New Age, according to the city list carried by Sedona-area outlets. Evacuees were directed to Sedona Red Rock High School. Other Sedona zones were not ordered to evacuate, but the city warned residents to stay away from creek beds and washes and not to cross roads covered by rushing water, and told residents they could get emergency alerts by texting REDROCKS to 888777.

The same storm system also stopped air traffic in Phoenix for part of the morning. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport because of weather and low ceilings, in place until 10 a.m., the Arizona Republic reported. The airport said the stop had disrupted more than 100 flights as of 9:34 a.m., with three canceled and 99 delayed. More than half an inch of rain had fallen at Sky Harbor on Sunday morning as of 9 a.m., bringing the three day total to 0.96 inches, and flood watches stayed in effect for parts of south central Arizona, including metro Phoenix, through late Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation ordered a mandatory evacuation early on Sunday after Cibecue Creek rose above last week's flood levels and kept rising, one of a string of flood emergencies across Arizona as a two part storm system soaked the state.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe Emergency Operations Center said the evacuation took effect at 6 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. Cibecue Creek had taken more than 5 inches of rain, and a significant surge of water was still moving downstream. People told to leave were directed to the Cibecue Elementary School gym or to family on higher ground, and officials warned residents not to drive or walk through floodwaters.

Creeks above flood stage in the north

The National Weather Service in Flagstaff issued a flash flood warning at 8:15 a.m. MST on Sunday for Coconino and Yavapai counties, in effect until 11:15 a.m., after radar and gauges showed 1.25 to 2.5 inches of rain had fallen. Oak Creek at Cornville stood at 8.88 feet at 8 a.m., above its 8 foot flood stage, and Oak Creek near Sedona stood at 15.06 feet, above its 14 foot flood stage. The warning covered Sedona, Cornville and Red Rock State Park.

An earlier flash flood warning, issued at 1:49 a.m. for Yavapai County, put Granite Creek at Prescott at 10.61 feet, just below its 11 foot flood stage. A separate flood warning for northern Arizona, issued at 5:37 a.m. and running until 2:30 p.m., said Wet Beaver Creek near Rimrock was forecast to crest at 14.12 feet at 9 p.m. on Sunday, well above its 9.5 foot flood stage, a level at which water begins to reach homes in Lake Montezuma.

Dam releases keep the Salt and Verde flooding

South of the high country, flooding continued on the rivers that feed Phoenix. Salt River Project was releasing 2,453 cubic feet of water per second from Granite Reef Dam at 5:49 a.m. on Sunday, and the weather service kept the flood warning for the Salt River below the dam in place until 7:45 a.m. on Monday. Low water crossings upstream of Tempe Town Lake, including McKellips Road, were flooding or about to flood. The weather service also warned at 6:32 a.m. that conditions on the Verde River were unsafe, with flooding between Bartlett Lake and the Salt River until 8 a.m. on Monday, and a gauge on the Verde measured a flow of 3,420 cubic feet per second at 6:28 a.m.

Warnings reach Pima County, and more storms are possible

In the south, the weather service in Tucson issued a flood warning at 4:57 a.m. for central Pima County, in effect until 5 p.m. on Sunday. Vamori Wash at Kom Vo stood at 9.5 feet at 4:51 a.m. and was still rising, close to the 9.8 feet at which the Highway 21 bridge may become impassable.

The storms are the second round of a wet Halloween weekend. It had not rained on Halloween in the area since 1987, the weather service said, and the first system on Friday, October 30 dropped more than an inch of rain in parts of metro Phoenix, where firefighters rescued six people from vehicles trapped in a flooded wash. Forecasters also placed parts of south central and eastern Arizona under a marginal risk of severe weather for Sunday afternoon, with wind gusts of 60 mph as the main threat.