Posted on 09/23/2014 1:29:13 PM PDT by SandRat
BISBEE Some parts of Bisbee received more heavy rainfall Saturday and Sunday nights which caused mudslides, rock slides and flood damage to homes, buildings and streets.
Andy Haratyk, Bisbee streets operation manager, said his department is doing the best it can to maintain access to homes on damaged roads. Haratyk said two roads have been closed to traffic.
I only have one person with me on streets right now, Haratyk said Monday. We have only two. One is away on vacation.
Brewery Road is still closed after the Sept. 18 rain and more debris and rock came down from Zacatecas Canyon during the recent Sunday rain, with some places reporting between 2.5 to nearly 3 inches.
Spring Canyon was closed Sunday night as a river of mud took out a large portion of the road, Haratyk said.
Santa Cruz Road was damaged from floodwaters rising above the wash and Navajo Road also had severe flooding that completely washed away the road bed.
Greg Finn, who owns a portion of the building that houses the Copper City Inn, came home to find he now has an open-air kitchen. A rock slide came through his kitchen wall Saturday night.
He said he built the building around 12 years ago and had made sure it was structurally sound with added concrete piers.
This really isnt too bad, he said, nodding toward the gaping six-foot hole. It could have been worse. This will be relatively easy to fix.
Fred Miller, co-owner of the Copper City Inn, nearly lost a lodging unit after enormous boulders came from the yard of a home above the property. On Saturday night, the first huge boulder came rolling down and slammed into a corner of one of Millers rental units. His guests decided to stay the night even though he offered to put them up in another hotel.
They thought of it as an adventure, Miller said. Then, Sunday night, another rock slide came down, but it didnt do any damage. It just made the rock pile bigger.
The city responded and closed the Copper City Inn for safety reasons on Sunday after a call from the people who lived above and to the right of the building. The area is roped off and the power has been temporarily disconnected, Miller said.
Sitting up above the property is a cavern where the ground was loosened by water and rocks dropped behind the building. There is another huge hunk of rock and concrete that looks like it may fall as well, Miller pointed out.
One of the problems in Bisbee is the determination of property lines. Many are not well defined, Miller said.
Miller leases his portion of the building with his three units from building owner Dawn Breen, who lives in Washington state. Miller said he talked with Breen Monday morning explaining the situation. Turns out, she only insured the building, not the land that goes with it.
I dont know how all this will work out, said Miller. The insurance companies and even Freeport McMoRan, Inc., may be in discussions.
Freeport recently removed the toxic topsoil from the property located above the Copper City Inn and replaced it with good soil.
For now, Miller has to find his booked guests new places to stay and refund money, though it pains him to do so. Like any business owner, particularly in accommodations, times are hard. This could shut him down for days as the boulder field is cleared away, the outcropping of other rock is somehow secured and power is restored.
Some of this rock will be easy to move. Its very soft. Maybe Freeport will loan one of the conveyor belts they have to move the rock downhill to the street. It wouldnt take too long. But, securing whats above will take some thought and time, Miller said.
As for the city, Haratyk and his one-man crew, with help from other department staff, will continue to try to keep Bisbees roads open. However, with more rain on the way, his concern is mounting.
Were already stretched to the limit, Haratyk said. We love and want the rain, but, the soil is so saturated now, there could well be more problems that arise.
AZ Rain Ping.
Must be the residue of the hurricane that hit Cabo?
Two nights ago here in Durango, CO, we had almost 4 inches of rain in an hour and a half. It was raining so hard the thunder was almost muted.
Is Bisbee the town that got it’s water-main washed-out by a flood a few years ago, or was that Tombstone? Or another town?
Hurricane Odile Rainfall Totals
http://pmm.nasa.gov/mission-updates/trmm-news/hurricane-odile-rainfall-totals
Tombstone lost its water main. The Monument Fire prepped the Huachuca Mountains for serious erosion during the rain season. Tombstone got its water from the Huachucas. Big war between environmentalists, Tombstone, Forest Service and spotted owls about whether or not Tombstone water main could be rebuilt or not.
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