The roof of a used bookstore and fabric store collapsed from the weight of the snow Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 in Flagstaff, Ariz. A powerful winter storm that pounded Arizona with rain and snow prompted a search for a boy who was swept away by rising waters and is presumed dead, flooded an unknown number of homes and left several hikers stranded. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Chow)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) By: Felicia Fonseca— A farming community where nearly half of its 500 residents were evacuated due to flooding surveyed the damage Saturday as rescuers in central Arizona recovered the body of a boy who was washed away by floodwaters.
Hikers on Saturday notified the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office that they had spotted a child’s body along the bank of the Agua Fria River. Recovery personnel confirmed it was Jacob Baudek, the 6-year-old boy who was swept away late Thursday in rising waters about 70 miles north of Phoenix as his family tried to take him to a hospital for treatment.
Authorities found the pajamas the boy was wearing and a backpack he was carrying late Friday. His body was recovered from the river bank.
In Wenden, pools of water, muddied streets, and damaged homes and businesses remained after a wash that runs through the community 90 miles west of Phoenix flooded this week. Residents who were evacuated Thursday by tractor, bus and boat were allowed back home Saturday afternoon.
“It’s really bad, everything,” said Ana Garcia, 20, from one of two shelters the American Red Cross set up in nearby Salome. “The road is really wet, there’s a lot of mud. We can cross to Wenden, but it’s not safe over there.”
In northern Arizona, the sun peeked briefly through clouds throughout the morning as much of the snow dissipated by midday. Residents in Flagstaff headed out yet again to clear snow from driveways and sidewalks that forecasters said was the third-highest on record for a five-day snowfall at 4½ feet.
Danny Ball was shoveling his roof Saturday evening in Bellemont, just west of Flagstaff, but figured the work load was too much to finish before the day’s end. A first-time home owner in the area, he said: “Come by next year and you’ll see me with a snow blower out here.”
Flagstaff city officials ordered anyone with a flat roof to clear it of snow to prevent roof collapses already sustained by some businesses. Dump trucks were hauling away loads of snow.
On the Navajo Nation reservation, the emergency operations center was fielding calls about roof collapses and from residents stranded in the snow who needed food or fuel to keep warm. Authorities were stockpiling wood and coal, food and hay to air-drop if necessary and bracing for the muddy mess to come as the snow melts.
Traffic was flowing on two major northern Arizona roadways — Interstates 17 and 40 — after being shut down since Thursday.
A popular ski resort, the Arizona Snowbowl just outside Flagstaff, reopened midday Saturday after a power outage and high winds forced its closure this week. Employees were busy early Saturday clearing about 8 feet of snow from the roads and parking lots left behind by the latest storm.
Much of Arizona received anywhere from an inch of rain to several inches, but in a state where the water doesn’t have many places to go, it was significant. Water levels had receded by Saturday, yet authorities still warned residents not to drive through flooded areas.
In Wenden, flooding from the storm receded late Thursday but more water returned several hours later when a 2-foot surge of runoff came through the Centennial Wash.
Driving through the community where the population swells during the harvesting season, fire chief Gabriel Palma spotted downed trees, residents trudging through mud to reach their homes and a backhoe buried in muddied water.
“I couldn’t estimate the dollar amount,” he said Saturday. “I’m thinking it’s going to take at least a week or so to get back to normal.”
The emergency operations center there was expected to be staffed for several more days in case more rain falls early next week, said La Paz County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Glenn Gilbert.
The elementary school sustained water damage and will be closed for a week. Some businesses had handmade signs saying they would be open Sunday, Gilbert said.
In all, nearly 210 people were evacuated. Half stayed the night Friday at two shelters set up at schools in nearby Salome, said American Red Cross spokeswoman Tracey Kiest.
The community is particularly prone to flooding. An October 2000 flood caused millions of dollars in damage, forced hundreds to evacuate and left one person dead. Gilbert said threat of flooding likely will persist unless the wash is cleared out or diverted.
“I’d hate to see another one of these floods,” he said. “They called the last one the 100-year flood, and less than 10 years later, we get another one.”
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
Recently Posted Comments