The rampaging Salt River destroyed the railroad bridge at Tempe in 1891, the river's worst flood on record.
Downpours in Phoenix often flood social media. The combination of so many new residents because of the metropolitan area's extreme population churn, sprawl built out in flood plains and the on-the-cheap engineering of freeways makes many believe this is a shocking and rare event. In fact, flooding is commonplace in Phoenix.
As a child in 1965, my mother took me to see the Salt River running wild over its banks. The snowpack was especially heavy that year and as it melted it filled the lakes northwest of the city, causing the Salt River Project to release water from its dams. My grandmother told stories about the floods in the early 1900s, including two that destroyed the Southern Pacific bridge just north of downtown Tempe. In one case, a passenger car was hanging over the edge. "You might not see this again in your lifetime," my mother said.
In high school in south Scottsdale, Indian Bend Wash flooded regularly, dividing the town in half and disrupting classes. The city built bridges but neglected to raise the approaches, so the wash merely went around them. It took years to engineer decent bridges and create the green belt along the Indian Bend.
The 1980 flood (one of ten that hit between 1967 and that year) cut off Tempe, Mesa and Chandler. Amtrak ran a special train (the Hattie B., named after first lady Hattie Babbitt) from those cities to Union Station. Ominously, officials worried Stewart Mountain Dam might fail. And when I returned in the 2000s, the Salt ran rampant again.
In 1902, the railroad bridge was again taken down by the river. It was rebuilt and strengthened, and still carries trains today beside the new light-rail bridge.
Here are the basics. The Sonoran is the wettest desert in the world. Monsoon storms cause flash floods. Northeast and west of Phoenix, several rivers converge: The Verde, Salt, New and Agua Fria, their waters flowing into the Gila River. The Salt River Valley really is a valley, not a basin. As a result, the water that falls on the mountains and highlands north and south of the river relentlessly seeks its way to the Salt. The valley is cut by several washes, especially Cave Creek and Indian Bend, which can flow violently toward the river.
Floods were as big a problem as drought for both the Hohokam and the American settlers. They washed away crops, destroying fields, canals and settlements. For farmers this was maddening, for in addition to the destruction of crops, precious water would be lost — the deluge replaced a few months later by a trickle in this meandering, fickle river.
Only a year after American settlement, in 1868, the Salt became a torrent and ruined the reclaimed ancient canals, as well as the wheat, hay and other crops of the pioneers. More floods hit in 1874 and 1875. This is why the Phoenix townsite was established so far north of the Salt River.
The February 1891 flood saw the Salt three miles wide; the confluence of the Salt and Verde was eight miles wide. The peak discharge rate of the Salt River was a frightening 300,000 feet per second. Then, from 1898 to 1904, a drought fell that was so severe even boosters feared Phoenix would be abandoned, meeting the fate of its Hohokam predecessor.
When Theodore Roosevelt Dam and its successors were built in the early 20th century, flood control was one of their goals. Another was to capture the floodwaters for later use. It was a technology that the Hohokam lacked, and the results allowed year-round farming, stable river flows (most of the time) and, later, the vast sea of subdivisions.
Cave Creek was especially destructive, with major floods in 1916, 1919, 1921 and 1922. It inundated the state capitol and destroyed the Santa Fe Railway yards just east of 19th Avenue and south of McDowell. In 1923, the Army Corps of Engineers built Cave Creek Dam, which significantly eased this risk. In 1979, it was replaced with the even more effective Cave Buttes Dam.
Queen Creek was another danger. A 1954 flood here inundated the agriculture of much of the southeast Valley. This led to the formation of the Maricopa County Flood Control District in 1959. "And none too soon," writes historian Philip VanderMeer. The 1965-66 flood I remember caused more than $45 million in damage in today's dollars, including harming runways at Sky Harbor.
Bridges came slowly. The first for automobiles was Phoenix's pride, the Center Street Bridge. It was dedicated in 1911 and was said to be the longest of its kind in the world. In 1913, the one-lane Ash Avenue Bridge crossed the Salt from Tempe where Hayden's Ferry once ran. This wooden structure, although decaying, was visible until demolished in 1991. The elegant and iconic Mill Avenue Bridge replaced it in 1933.
When I was growing up, Mill and a new Central Avenue bridge were the only two spans that crossed the Salt. Every other street had asphalt built over the riverbed, and increased traffic to and from Tempe caused the Mill bridge to be dedicated to southbound cars. Northbound traffic crossed at the riverbed until a new span was built in 1994.
More controlled, but never quite under control: The Salt River in 2005
Since the 1980s, more bridges and flood control dams have been built. The wild desert rivers have been channelized. This government investment was essential, along with freeways, to making far-flung areas profitable for sprawl builders.
But the land and the rivers operate by their own logic. And in some cases bad land use and sprawl have made it worse for areas downstream or for the suckers who bought tract houses in undisclosed flood plains. The measures to control the rivers and creeks can make floods more intense because they keep the water from naturally spreading out over a larger area.
So flooding is nothing new to Phoenix. As to whether and how climate change affects the severity or frequency of rainfall here — or lack thereof — it is too early to tell..
Stay safe. Don't act like a newcomer moron and drive into standing water in the desert, even on a road. You never know how deep it is, or how strong the current.
One of my earliest memories was driving back from Tucson in a mammoth rainstorm. It became impossible to see and we pulled the car off the highway. Just ahead was the Gila, the bridge gone as it thundered toward its destiny with the Colorado River.
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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.
Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.
I remember those late '70s floods that made it all but impossible to commute from Tempe to Scottsdale/Phoenix.
A waitress where I worked, and her husband, would park a small mobile home in the Bob's Big Boy parking lot and she'd "commute" from it to the back door during the traffic-snarling flooding.
Posted by: Petro | September 08, 2014 at 04:34 PM
The only thing missing from this report is the story of the Loop 202 construction mishap, when the portion along the Salt River collapsed during construction. Was that 1992-1993? Can't remember, but it was notable because the failure was due to a miscalculation of the flash flood flow rate. Now I can't find any information online about this event. Does that mean I'm imagining it?
Posted by: ptb | September 08, 2014 at 05:10 PM
Apologize, this is off-topic, but this is a great take down of a recent Robert Robb column by Donna Gratehouse, who shows up here now and again: :)
Oh boy, Bob Robb is explaining race relations again
(I recall having an intemperate email exchange with Robb once - I forget what the issue was.)
Posted by: Petro | September 08, 2014 at 06:41 PM
If you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of driving through water that's deeper than you expected-and it can happen so fast sometimes as to preclude judgement, good or bad-don't take your foot off the gas pedal, or water will flow into your exhaust pipe and stall your car, then you're really screwed. Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt dam, if it should ever fail, there'll be a domino effect all the way down the whole chain, and when it hits the valley, well...fresh start?
On a different note, I was thinking today of segregation in Phoenix schools back in the 1950's, and it occurred to me that my elementary school was comprised of whites, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians, but around 1959 or 1960, two little black brothers were cautiously shepherded into our school and escorted from class to class by teachers, seemingly dissappearing during recess. I didn't give it any thought then, being an oblivious little shit, but in retrospect I imagine there must have been objections from parents. The boys were only there for maybe a year, then they were gone. Only in high school did integration become the norm. I wonder how many Phoenicians remember the story of Lincoln Ragsdale?
Posted by: Pat | September 08, 2014 at 07:51 PM
Car flooding. In the old days always carried lighter fluid to put on the points and plugs when they got wet.
I know the story of Lincoln Ragsdale. A great story and I believe Jon has covered that subject some place. So how many of you made the Sky Room jazz scene upstairs in Ragsdale country in the 50's and sixties.
More later on Dams. Gotta work first.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 08, 2014 at 08:46 PM
I came out to check out ASU Christmas break 1965 from S. Illinois.I drove through the dry riverbed at Mill and wondered what the hell were these people doing out here.6 days later I took the train back home and the Salt was roaring while I crossed the river in Tempe.That should have been my first clue,but with going in the coal mines as my only other choice,I moved out and started at Phoenix College.The only charge was $50 per semester to join the Student Union and my books.My 2nd wife rode the Hattie B to work and I flew to Sky Harbor from Chandler airport to avoid flood traffic for a warehouse sale.
Cal,I got to see the Reed sisters at the Sky Room in the 70's and Lincoln Ragsdale was a real hero in the black community.
Posted by: mike doughty | September 08, 2014 at 09:25 PM
I cursed my hero Teddy Roosevelt today as I fingered a hothouse organic tomato grown in a human chemical invented soup. The "Advent of agriculture was the beginning of the decline of man." and Teddy facilitated this demise by approving the construction of the Roosevelt dam project. The Seri's needed no dams. And they still do not. I have visited them and they will be here when Arizona has been reclaimed by the Great Sonoran Desert.
Much mas tarde.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 08, 2014 at 10:21 PM
monsoon rain records, flash floods are short term issues. Next time you open your faucet ask yourself where it came from, is it forever or will you shrivel up and die as we all do when our water is gone. It ain't renewable.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 08, 2014 at 11:34 PM
Petro, I just read the Robb article. Then I read donna's analysis.
I.'m afraid Donna's view through her liberal lenses altered the message Robb was trying to articulate.
It is too complex of a subject to make clear for the different factions. Throw in emotion and you don't stand a chance making a clear analysis .
Both parties in this tragedy were wrong. Until that is accepted, you can't make it right.
Posted by: Ruben | September 09, 2014 at 06:42 AM
http://thevane.gawker.com/this-stupid-motorist-law-makes-drivers-pay-for-their-1632098583/+laceydonohue
Posted by: Rogue Columnist | September 09, 2014 at 11:01 AM
Despite yesterdays record setting late monsoon downpour, the drought will persist.
For Suzzane:
A more serious flood: World Drug Commission
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/global-drug-policy_n_5791240.html
The War ON Drugs.
To quote Charles Bowden its a "War FOR Drugs"
"There is no war on drugs, rather there is violence, nourished by the money to be made from Drugs"
"Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts
to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime
out of things that are not crimes."
Abraham Lincoln
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/[…]/Abraham.Lincoln.Quote.
563D
Posted by: cal Lash | September 09, 2014 at 03:59 PM
Emil, U underwater. based on some of your past posts it seemed U may be near some flood basins or plains?
Posted by: cal Lash | September 09, 2014 at 04:24 PM
Mike Doughty. U and I got a couple of years on Jon but despite his love of the Opera and all those great cultural micro soft orgasmic things in Seattle, I think he would been at home at the Sky Room.I certainly had better social relations there than I did at Sarges Cowtown. Ciots Ballroom was a whole nother deal. Singing, dancing, Kicking and ah screaming and fights galore in the parking lots. Saw a guy that now owns a pizzeria on the west side rip a guys eyes out. And of course this is where Actor Jack Elam lost one of his eyes. Well I am off to Bobs for one of them thar milkshakes that you can turn upside down and they stay in the cup. Speaking of cups, babe! Shift.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 09, 2014 at 08:51 PM
More on the Flood of drugs,
Criminals drowning in rivers of cash.
http://www.vice.com/read/the-establishment-is-turning-against-the-drug-war-909
Posted by: cal Lash | September 09, 2014 at 09:11 PM
The Ian Walsh blog and comments is a must read today.
I tried to tell people what they were getting before Pres. Obama's first election.
Obama is ten times worse than Bush.
Hillary would be 100 times worse than Obama.
Posted by: Ruben | September 10, 2014 at 08:15 AM
Ruben
I read Welsh. I am one of his readers who “object to this [his] broad brush”. He said, I also predicted, following Stirling Newberry, that on civil liberties and constitutional issues he [President Obama] would institutionalize Bush.
He may have done.
However, I went to Stirling and (while not on the same subject) here is what he said, But neither can the commons, the ordinary man and woman, escape blame. In democratic countries with open primary systems, the population as a whole must take ultimate responsibility for what happens. We became complacent, we believed that others would do the work of democracy, and that we could enjoy the fruits of prosperity without also attending to our responsibilities as citizens beyond, perhaps, voting every few years.
On a side note, the Senate passed a bill 79-18 to advance a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
My hunch is that this is all show and a no-go in the house, but, hey, what else is there to do?
Ruben, I have heard Hillary say that she does not agree with Obama on foreign policy. I do believe she will be more ‘hawkish’ in her response on foreign issues which I think would be a mistake.
Posted by: Suzanne | September 10, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Ruben, Congress is 100 times worse than Bush and Obama! Congress has completed maybe two things in almost 16 years. Since the Black man came they have shut him out at almost every turn. Hell he isnt even allowed on some white golf courses.
Suzzane, Hillary more Hawkish than Obama, how much less than Cheney? I am an Elizabeth Warren fan, thank you.
Obama so far has not done this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prosecution_of_George_W._Bush_for_Murder
Posted by: cal Lash | September 10, 2014 at 12:32 PM
cal, I like Elizabeth Warren. She is a first class lady in my opinion. I don't know how much she can do alone.
Posted by: Suzanne | September 10, 2014 at 02:51 PM
She has me!
Posted by: cal Lash | September 10, 2014 at 03:02 PM
Floods, I cleaned my car today which Im sure will result in more flooding of the great Sonoran desert, whats left of it since the white man arrived.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 10, 2014 at 03:04 PM
cal lash wrote:
"Emil, U underwater?"
Only metaphorically.
"Based on some of your past posts it seemed U may be near some flood basins or plains?"
I'm in central Phoenix, which is where I usually have been.
The biggest predictors of flooding are local rainfall, local geography, and (critically) civil engineering; specifically the design of runoff gradients and outlets (storm sewers and flood canals).
The central city gets much less rain, on average, than outlying areas of metropolitan Phoenix. One presumes this is the result of the heat-island effect and the dynamics of storm-cell creation and propagation.
Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | September 10, 2014 at 07:39 PM
Speaking of floods, there is a flood of anger over on Ian's blog.
How does that saying go, "hell hath no fury like an Obama supporter scorned".
Let this rainstorm of the ages be a warning to you all, if you unleash Pres. Hillary on the world, you will all perish.
It has been written.
Posted by: Ruben | September 10, 2014 at 08:25 PM
Since his thread seems to be wandering all over the place: My husband is in Phoenix on business and so experienced the Great Flood. We have a town and developments where we live on the Big Island of Hawaii that are now threatened by a lava flow. So it could be worse!
Posted by: Hattie | September 10, 2014 at 11:08 PM
Africa is getting closer to Europe and Japan is just a few heart beats from disappearing under the ocean as China smothers in pollution.
It is gonna get a whole lot worse and Ruben
then it will not matter if Hillary and Putin are singing we shall over come in a kayak in the WhiteWaters.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 10, 2014 at 11:31 PM
Since its all about to end I recommend going to the movies:
Ruben for you I recommend
Wonderland, Sin City, A Dame to Die For.
For the idealists the up coming Gary Webb Story, Kill the Messenger is to be released in October.
A movie yet to be made:
The DEA and CIA folks are all in a dither that a second Mexican drug cartel leader is about to slip away from their grasp when he is released from a Mexican prison shortly. A few months ago Caro Quintero slipped away from US feds grasp when he was let out of a Mexican prison on a technicality. God forbid he is out there probably writing about his memories of his great relations with ranking American and Mexican federalis while making billions of dollars.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_26495263/2nd-mexican-drug-kingpin-dea-agents-1985-murder
Side note, Mexican prisons are not all that much worse than American prisons and for billionaire drug cartel prisoners, life is good. Big screen TV, lots of good food, open relative visits, conjugal visits, free Viagra.
Posted by: cal Lash | September 10, 2014 at 11:51 PM
I've seen all of the floods since the 1960s. We used to go to the Country Club crossing under the Salt to watch the waters; my maternal grandparents lived next to Indian Bend Wash before it was a green belt; the commuter train that ran during the flood that took out nearly every bridge over the Salt except for the old Mill Ave Bridge (don't build like that anymore) and the RR bridge; not to mention the low level developments that got swept away (your REIT at work!).
Posted by: Jerry McKenzie | September 11, 2014 at 08:34 AM
Hattie, lava flow? Please!
We have sheriff arpaio who will get reelected and serve into his 90's. (He recently locked up the dog and cat vote)
So don't try to trump us on "it could be worse".
Your islands are overrun with chickens.
We're overrun with quacks.
Posted by: Ruben | September 11, 2014 at 08:42 AM
Ruben want to read about Arizona's worst Flake.
Read retired MSCO deputy Chief Brian Sands book.
http://www.amazon.com/Arpaio-Facto-Lawman-Brian-Sands/dp/B00M9Z7YYO
and from the New Times.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/08/joe_arpaios_ex-deputy_chief_brian_sands_dishes_dirt_on_steven_seagal_birthers_and_more_in_e-book_arp.php
Posted by: cal Lash | September 11, 2014 at 11:16 AM
I graduated from Saguaro H.S. with Lincoln Jr. and Emily Ragsdale. I remember the times the Indian bend wash was flooding as we lived just east of it at 83rd and Jackrabbit. When the wash and the salt were flowing east Scottsdale was cut off from the rest of town.
Posted by: Cliff Olsen | November 25, 2023 at 01:55 PM