Gov. Jan Brewer requests federal funds after Arizona flooding
Sep 3, 2014, 5:43 PM | Updated: 8:16 pm
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is asking for monetary support from the federal government to help her state recover from heavy flooding.
Brewer’s letter to request disaster assistance said more than 100 homes and businesses were damaged by flood waters over an eight-day span, especially for areas west of Phoenix, such as New River and Laveen.
Should the request be granted, homeowners and renters would be eligible to receive loans up to $200,000 to repair damaged property and households can apply for loans up to $40,000 to replace property. Homeowners had little to no forewarning of the oncoming water.
In one 24-hour period, the South Mountain area received 3.55 inches, effectively turning Dobbins Road near 27th Avenue into a river. Multiple homes were flooded after a three-foot wall of water came rushing off the mountain. Eleven drivers had to be rescued.
Houses took on several inches of water, and even Fire Station No. 57 couldn’t avoid the fallout. A breach in the canal at Dobbins and 19th Avenue forced water over its banks and into the streets. Some houses were swamped with up to eight inches of water.
A few days later, the community of New River was hit hard by storms. Flooding destroyed homes, cars and even closed a portion of Interstate 17 after a wash overflowed. More than eight inches of rain fell across the Valley, with more than six inches falling in New River.
“This is the worst we’ve ever seen,” said Danny Roberts of Anthem during the storm.
Cox Cactus Farm co-owner Jessica Cox said the farm, near 15th Avenue and Desert Hills Road in Anthem, lost between $1.5 million and $2 million worth of inventory and estimated it will take two years to fully recover from the storm.
“It was a long road these past three years,” she said. “We worked our tails off. We will do it again.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
