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Rising floodwaters lead to more evacuation orders in Arizona
The Associated Press//March 22, 2023
SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) — More evacuation orders were issued Wednesday for some residents in northern Arizona due to flooding from rainfall and snowmelt.
Yavapai County Sheriff’s officials said rising floodwaters were making some neighborhoods in the Sedona and Cottonwood areas unsafe.
They said the Cottonwood area along the Verde River was threatened by floodwaters as were some Sedona homes around Oak Creek.
Evacuations also were ordered for portions of Black Canyon City along the Agua Fria River in Yavapai County.
Salt River Project officials said storms have compelled the utility to increase the number of water releases from its two reservoirs on the Verde River.
The reservoirs were already more than 80% full.
Recent surveys found that snowpack on the 13,000-square mile (34,000-square kilometer) watershed that feeds into those Verde reservoirs is the deepest it’s been in 30 years.
SRP, which serves mainly central Arizona, operates by strategically releasing water from dams on the Salt and Verde rivers into a network of canals.
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