PHOENIX — Residents began cleaning up Wednesday from devastating flooding that slammed Arizona a day earlier, trapping people in vehicles and homes and destroying up to $2 million worth of inventory at a cactus nursery north of Phoenix.
The National Weather Service said some areas received more rain Tuesday than they had all last summer, and many residents were confronted with a long recovery.
At Cox Cactus Farm, workers gathered and discarded flooded plants. Tractors scooped up dirt at the nursery, which caters to landscapers, resorts and golf courses.
Co-owner Jessica Cox said the farm lost between $1.5 million and $2 million worth of inventory and estimated it will take two years to recover from the storm. The owners have to rebuild and regrow their inventory from scratch, she said.
The floodwaters rose so quickly Tuesday morning that Cox's husband had to climb on the roof of a greenhouse to escape. A worker retrieved him with a tractor.
Farther north, nearly 5 inches of rain fell around New River, the site of some of the most chaotic scenes on Tuesday.
Several homes in the town about 30 miles north of Phoenix sustained significant damage, and a helicopter rescued two women and three dogs from a residence surrounded by swift-moving water.
Some New River residents who live near a flooded wash spent Wednesday morning helping one another.
Susy Mister gathered metal panels and fencing that belonged to her neighbor, who is out of town. Mister said she hasn't been able to relay the extent of the damage.
A muddy pit filled with rocks, pieces of asphalt and mangled trees was all that was left of the neighbor's circular horse pen.
“We're trying to soften the load on her, trying to soften the hit that she's going to get when she sees her home,” Mister said.
New River resident Wayne Adams set out on foot at 6 a.m. with his dog in search of his utility trailer.
“It just disappeared,” said Adams, who uses the trailer to haul lumber and trash. “We went home, and now we're back out again. I still hope we find it.”
