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Maricopa County flood control tracks monsoon storms around the clock

By
FOX 10 Phoenix
Monsoons
Updated July 17, 2026 11:20 AM MST Published July 17, 2026 11:18 AM MST
i17 flooding article

FILE - Several cars trapped in flooding under the overpass at Interstate 17 and Greenway in Phoenix. (KSAZ-TV)

The Brief

    • The Flood Control District of Maricopa County monitors monsoon storms around the clock to detect immediate threats.
    • Meteorologists coordinate with local emergency managers to handle road closures and facilitate potential evacuations.
    • Officials advise motorists to never drive through flooded areas, noting that 12 inches of water can carry away most vehicles.

PHOENIX - The Flood Control District of Maricopa County monitors monsoon storms around the clock. Meteorologists keep in close contact with other Arizona organizations to alert them of a potential threat.

What they're saying:

Meteorologist with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, Hannah Whipple, monitors the monsoon storms as they come in. Whipple says they closely monitor bridges, levies, dams, and other structures for a potential flooding risk.

"We have three duty officers, myself and two other meteorologists – middle of the night, overnight, if it's early morning, we are watching. We're sending out weather outlook. We're sending out coordination emails. We're sending out messages to those constituents that I mentioned, so to emergency managers, the people who need to take action to close roads to maybe even make evacuations," she said.

If action needs to be taken, the district is in close contact with other emergency personnel who can take action.

"Real-time data so that we can track when it’s raining, it’s raining with the impact. Is the stream slowing? Is water filling up behind impoundment? Those kind of things," Whipple said.

Whipple says every part of the county is susceptible to flooding and can become very dangerous very quickly. The best words of advice: never drive through a flooded roadway.

"Any you know, the right amount of rain in a short amount of time can cause planning on roadways anywhere in the county. It can cause low-level washes to flow," Whipple said. "Six inches of water takes off your feet 12 inches. It’ll take most cars 18 inches, can float just about any car. You could possibly imagine. Water is also very powerful. It can pull debris into the roadway. It can do all kinds of things that make what used to be a familiar road something completely different and completely dangerous and deadly."

Flood Control District of Maricopa County 
https://www.maricopa.gov/5308/Flood-Control-District

The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Flood Control District of Maricopa County and Hannah Whipple.

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