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Yes, There Really Is Flooding In The Valley

Crews are still cleaning up from last weekend’s macro-burst in North Phoenix. The city’s Deputy Public Works Director Felipe Moreno says his department tries to be judicious about using its overtime budget, so it can respond to storms like that one. He says this year’s monsoon, and last weekend’s storm, have been big.

"This one did have heavy damage - there were block walls blown down, large trees that were blowing into major streets, parks were upended in a lot of ways with trees - I know there were nine city parks affected with 54 trees lost. We’ve collected more than 93 tons of debris so far," Moreno said.

Moreno said he doesn’t have an estimate yet on what this year’s monsoon has cost - he predicts another week or so of cleanup from the macro-burst.

But monsoons also bring rain, and in some cases, lots of it. This can cause flooding - as can winter storms.

The Flood Control District of Maricopa County wants to hear from you and see your photos of flooding. It’s sending out postcards to residents, inviting them to take part in a survey, and upload pictures and videos of flooding in their neighborhood.

Bill Wiley is the Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Flood Control District of Maricopa County.

"It’s always helpful to have the public report what’s going on, because we can’t have people there all the time, in every place and we just don’t have that many staff," Wiley said.

Wiley says any information is valuable, and not just for his department’s scientists and engineers.

"People say, ‘It hasn’t flooded for a long time.’ It flooded last year. In 2013, we had floods in parts of this Valley. We’ve had floods already this year in certain parts of this Valley. So if it doesn’t affect you, you don’t think it happens. So, we forget very quickly," Wiley said.

Another aspect of the public outreach is getting information for upcoming studies.

Theresa Pinto is a Project Manager for a 95 square-mile study area in Northeast Maricopa County.

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.