MARK BRODIE: This has been the fourth-wettest October on record for Phoenix, according to the National Weather Service. And most of that rain has come over the past week or so. Maps maintained by the Maricopa County Flood Control District show some parts of the Valley have gotten more than 4 inches of rain over the last seven days.
And with all of that rain, we've seen photos and videos of flooding in parts of the Valley, which has led lots of people to ask about flood insurance. With us now for some answers is Lisa Blyler, information, outreach and support division manager for the Maricopa County Flood Control District. Lisa, good morning.
LISA BLYLER: Good morning. That's a mouthful.
BRODIE: It is a mouthful. You've had a busy week, I'd say, huh?
BLYLER: A little bit about that storm? I happen to be in an area that got four-and-a-half inches of rain.
BRODIE: Oh, my gosh.
BLYLER: In Ahwatukee. So people think it's other places in the county. Right here in metro Phoenix area.
BRODIE: Well, did you have flooding in your yard?
BLYLER: Not in my yard. I had — I was at the tail end of that microburst. ... So it uprooted some trees behind my condo, and I still have a baseball field 3 feet underwater still a week later.
BRODIE: Wow. OK. ... We're talking about flood insurance, and I have to say, it sounds kind of counterintuitive, right? That we're living in the desert. We always complain there's not enough rain, there's no large bodies of water immediately nearby, and yet for so many people, flood insurance is a pretty important thing.
BLYLER: It sure is. And we talk about flood insurance all year long, by the way. But it's real hard when it's hot and dry to say, "Hey, you really need to think about your risk." And so this great opportunity that this is on everyone's mind because we saw what Mother Nature can do. Even when we know the storm is coming, it can be very unpredictable.
So what we tell folks is know your risk. Anywhere that it rains here in the Valley, that's where you can flood. And so it is that counterintuitive thing. I grew up in Ohio, so you watch the rain come, the creek rises and, oh, it overtops. Now we're flooding. Here we could be dry for 100 days, get a quarter inch of rain and have sheet flooding.
And it just doesn't make sense to people who haven't been here very long. ... It's like pouring a bucket of water on the concrete saying, how come it didn't soak in? And so that ground just gets hard and it has nowhere to go, so it just flows right off. What happened this past week is a little bit more intuitive in that we had sustained rain.
It just kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. And that, you know, at some point the water's — the ground's too wet and can't hold any more water. And so this is just a great time to know your risk. And fortunately for folks in Maricopa County, we provide a lot of resources for that.
BRODIE: It sounds like, and you were, as you were describing, growing up in Ohio. I grew up on the East Coast, and the same kind of thing. ... Maybe the reservoir gets too full or the creek or the stream gets too full. But it seems like a different mindset here, where you're not so much worried about the canal overflowing or something. It's literally what's falling from the sky in that moment causing a problem, causing flooding for you.
BLYLER: Yeah. And where it's going. So if you, if you're from other parts of the country, you walk a couple feet down the street, you see a storm drain, you see another one, see another one. We have storm drain system here in the metro area, but not that many. The roads are crowned.
We use gravity and we use the geography to our advantage. So it flows down the street into basins in your neighborhood. They look like parks most of the time. Those are built to hold that water all from your neighborhood, collect and let it soak back into the ground. So it's just a different kind of mindset.
And when that those basins are full, that ground is wet, it has nowhere to go. It just keeps piling up. And then it can back up, back into your streets and can come towards your home.
BRODIE: You mentioned that anywhere it rains is where you can be at risk. But I wonder if there are parts of the Valley that are maybe more prone to flooding than others.
BLYLER: Sure. And the reason we say anywhere it rains, because Mother Nature is unpredictable, right? ... And we are in a Valley. So if you're closer to a mountain and some high ground and it has, you know, gravity does what gravity does. It comes at you. So folks in the outlying parts of the county, higher elevation, they're going to see more of those things. But again, I was in Ahwatukee, 4.5 inches of rain over six days. ...
And so it can happen anywhere. And so some of the things we do at Maricopa County is really help folks know your risk. We're not saying any — it can rain anywhere. We give you — you can go onto our website and find: Are you in a floodplain? FEMA does a good job across the country, but they do large blocks when they figure out what's a floodplain.
What Maricopa County residents get, we do studies all across the county. They take a couple years. We go all the way around and come back. And we keep studying because we keep building, keep growing. And so as we do that, we can tell you what's happening not in a 5-mile block, not even a 1-mile block. We can tell you what's happening in your neighborhood. So when we say know your risk ... we give you that information.
We, you talked about weather, how much rain we got. We have over 400 rain and stream gauges all across the county. The one by me, I can see 600 feet from my window, but chances are there's one right by you. So we make that available to folks. So when we say, you know, when you're starting to think about your risk, we provide you with a lot of details, a lot of information. And so you're not just taking a shot in the dark.
BRODIE: Understanding that different policies obviously will be different and different people have different needs, in general, what does flood insurance cover? Why should people have it if it seems like something they need?
BLYLER: Because your regular homeowner's or renter's policy does not cover flooding. And so if you don't have that special coverage, if any kind of water damages your property, your possessions, anything ... inside or outside of your home, that's not covered with your homeowner's policy. And something really important to understand is if you are going to be getting flood insurance, it takes 30 days for it to go into effect.
So if you're seeing that we're going to have another tropical depression come through when you want to get it, it's too late. So it's really important now. It's fresh on everyone's mind. Really start thinking about those opportunities. And Maricopa County gives you lots of information at maricopa.gov/floodinsurance. Nice and easy to remember, right?
BRODIE: Yeah. It's too late to be calling to try to set up your policy as you see the dark clouds moving in.
BLYLER: Correct. Correct. And so it's just really important to think ahead and think about it now when there isn't that imminent risk.
BRODIE: So ... do you have a sense, are there some number of people who you think probably should have flood insurance in the Valley that don't so?
BLYLER: Well ... again, it's up to what are individual risks at your home. There are things you can do to flood proof your home. There are things you can do to elevate your property. It's hard to say one over the other, but, you know, you don't have to be in a flood zone for it to happen. In fact, 25% of all claims are outside of flood zones.
BRODIE: Really?
BLYLER: Yeah. So when I say — and it sounds funny — but anywhere it rains really is a risk.
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