PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management’s (DFFM) incident management team (IMT) will be transitioning recovery operations following last week’s severe flooding back to the city of Globe on Sunday morning.
However, before then on Saturday, teams will work on reducing potential obstacles to drainage water flow by cutting woody materials in Six Shooter, Icehouse and Kellner Canyons, according to DFFM’s latest report.
Around 2.5 inches of rain fell in Globe over 24 hours last Friday, flooding creeks, roadways as well as the city’s downtown area. Gov. Katie Hobbs declared a state of emergency for Gila County on Saturday in wake of the catastrophic flooding and DFFM’s IMT took over recovery operations on Sunday.
“The amount of work put in by resources over the last week is truly remarkable,” DFFM’s IMT commander John Truett said in the report. “With a majority of that work completed, we feel comfortable to hand the incident back to local officials. We appreciate the community’s support and graciousness through this difficult time.”
DFFM noted due to the “substantial progress” made, some hand crews have already been released, but the wildland fire crews will remain available should the city require more saw work and cleanup.
Recovery operations in Globe show significant progress
On Tuesday, just days after the destructive flooding, Globe Mayor Al Gameros told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos that the city was looking “100 times better” noting that more than 3,000 volunteers helped the community clean on Monday.
Over the past week, IMT crews located and recovered 66 vehicles that floodwaters swept away. The report noted five of them belonged to a local auto dealership.
The waters also dislodged propane tanks from a Globe-area distribution facility and so far heavy equipment was used to recover 800 tanks. However, IMT added that there are still tanks that need to be removed from the Wheatfields community.
During the recovery and cleanup operations, 288 tons of green waste and miscellaneous debris was cleared from yards, creeks, washes and roadways.
In addition, almost 88,000 cubic yards of dirt and sediment was removed and transported to a local landfill.
Search and rescue operations concluded on Wednesday with three deaths being confirmed due to the devastating flooding.
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