EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC HAZARDS
STATE OF EMERGENCY
EXTREME RAIN EVENTS
DEADLY FLOODING
MASS EVACUATIONS
SCENARIOS 444, 111, 070, 066, 023, 02
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Extreme Rain Events Force Mass Evacuations in Mesa, Arizona
Arizona Gov. Brewer declared a statewide emergency as record rains swamped large swathes of SW U.S., prompting flash-flood warnings in four states— Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
Severe flooding, described by NWS as “life-threatening situation,” forced authorities to shut down Interstates 10 and 17 in Arizona as well a large section of Interstate 15 in Nevada.
At least two people were killed in Arizona and hundreds of drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles on the swamped interstates.
Record Rainfall
A record 84mm of rain fell on Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport, shattering previous record of 74mm set in September 1939 for the city’s most rainfall in a single day, according to reports.
In Tucson, 32mm of rain at Tucson International Airport also set a new record, breaking the previous single-day record of 24mm.
Slow-moving disaster
“Flooding affected up to 200 homes in Mesa on Monday. A troubled Mayor Alex Finter said in the evening that Mesa was ‘planning for this to be a week-long, two-week or one-month event,’ calling the flooding a ‘slow-moving disaster.'”
Fire Earth 