Officials in Santa Cruz County say days of heavy rainfall caused deadly flooding in the sister cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico over the weekend.
Santa Cruz County Undersheriff Gerardo Castillo said search crews were dispatched late last week after bystanders reported seeing a woman in the Nogales Wash, which flows from the Sonoran side into the U.S.
He said a binational group of over 30 volunteers with fire departments, rescue groups and other agencies took part in a dayslong search and recovered three flood victims. Mexican and U.S. authorities are still working to identify the victims, but believe they came from the Mexican side of the border and floated over to the U.S. side.
Castillo said when flash flooding happens, it impacts communities on both sides of the international boundary.
“We share the same wash and we share the same sewer system. And also, they [Nogales, Sonora] are in a higher elevation than we are,” Castillo said.
Castillo said crews located a man’s body Friday morning, but had to call off search efforts amid more heavy rainfall. They resumed the next day and found a woman’s body on Saturday morning. The third body was also discovered on Saturday, but has not yet been identified as male or female. All three bodies were transported to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The sheriff’s office is working with the Mexican consulate to identify the victims, Castillo says, but so far, no missing persons reports have been filed.
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