Where Floods Follow Wildfires

Neighborhoods not previously at risk of flooding face new challenges as burn scars from recent fires leave them vulnerable to floods.

1 minute read

September 14, 2022, 9:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Aerial view of Flagstaff, Arizona at sunset

Real Window Creative / Flagstaff, Arizona

Like other Western states, Arizona is experiencing longer, more destructive wildfires. “And now,” writes Ryan Heinsius for Arizona Public Radio, “the burn scars left behind are causing flooding in neighborhoods that previously weren’t flood prone.” According to Heinsius, “Local emergency officials have scrambled to ease the impacts on residents, but long-term solutions won’t come immediately.”

“Arizona’s experiencing about a 2-degree increase in temperature Celsius, resulting in really just a variety of conditions that provide a huge hazard,” says Andrew Sanchez Meador, executive director of the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University.

For now, “Officials have provided as much short-term mitigation as they can in the form of hundreds of thousands of sandbags and miles of concrete barriers just to weather monsoon season.” Experts say long-term solutions include forest restoration projects that can protect communities in the coming years. 

Friday, September 9, 2022 in Arizona Public Radio

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