In the wake of flood disaster, Globe City Council reviews search and rescue efforts, city damage, and funding

ADOT inspected 10 bridges throughout the city on Wednesday, including Yuma and Haskins bridges, which are currently blocked off. Pictured here is Haskins Bridge.

Jenn Walker

Ryan and Stacey Murry, owners of Globe Gym, show the water line on the outside of the building, indicating where the flood waters were. They need to replace the damaged drywall, insulation, and flooring, and test all of the exercise equipment for functionality. They are concerned about whether or not all Globe businesses that were affected by the flood will be addressed in the city's relief process.

Jenn Walker

Globe Police Chief Dale Walters said a total of 66 personally-owned vehicles were recovered during search and rescue efforts.

Globe Police Chief Dale Walters says most, if not all, of the propane tanks that washed through Globe's city limits have been removed

Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management

Posted Friday, October 3, 2025 9:01 pm

We're doing our due diligence to go through all the calls for service that dispatch received. We were absolutely overwhelmed in the beginning, so we're double-checking all of those to make sure we didn't miss anything.”

Globe Police Chief Dale Walters

Jenn Walker

Updated Oct. 7, 2025, 4:45 PM: Globe City Council held another special meeting on Wednesday evening in response to last Friday’s catastrophic flooding event, reviewing search and rescue efforts, sustained damage to city infrastructure, and funding opportunities for businesses and residents impacted by the event.

As of that evening, there were still only three known fatalities associated with the storm event. In the way of city infrastructure, the sewer system and bridges have been affected the most. According to the city, 84 businesses were within the path of the water during the flood. Donations were reported at more than $500,000, and both residents and businesses can apply for financial assistance.

At the end of the meeting, the council agreed to waive water fees for businesses and residents for the next two months in the midst of cleaning efforts, as well as pull $200,000 from the city’s contingency fund to contribute to businesses impacted by the flood.

“If this is not a good use [of the contingency fund], then nothing else is,” said city council manager Paul Jepson.

Search and rescue teams recover 66 vehicles from flooded areas – only three known fatalities and none missing

Both the police and fire departments are working with the type three incident management team on search and rescue efforts, which assumed command of the incident on Saturday evening.

Globe Police Chief Dale Walters said a total of 66 personally-owned vehicles were recovered from the incident – not including new trucks from the Ford dealership downtown – and all of the registered owners were identified.

He said the department is now reviewing all the phone calls that were sent to dispatch that night.

"I have no missing people right now,” he said. “But we're doing our due diligence to go through all the calls for service that dispatch received. We were absolutely overwhelmed in the beginning, so we're double-checking all of those to make sure we didn't miss anything."

"In the next week to two weeks, our goal is to bring in some teams to run dogs through all the canals surrounding the area to potentially identify any victims that we were unaware of,” he added.

As of Wednesday, the incident management team had searched Six Shooter, Ice House, and Kellner Canyons, downtown Globe, Pinal Creek, and McMillan Wash for victims, while also removing propane tanks and vehicles. Helicopter operations flew over all surrounding waterways, from the headwaters to Wheatfields, and as well as Bloody Tanks Wash in Miami. The team has also been working in creeks to remove woody material from creek beds or cut it to a size that won’t pose a threat during future storm events.

Globe city limits is mostly, if not completely, clear of propane tanks

As far as the hundreds of propane tanks that were strewn throughout town during the flood, Walters said most have been collected from within Globe city limits.

“Standing here right now, it is my belief that, at least within the city limits of Globe and most of Pinal Creek down to Bixby Road, they have been retrieved,” he said.

Though, “there is a good chance that we've missed some,” he added. “They shot into buildings. They could be buried.”

Globe Fire Chief Gary Robinson said discussions are underway to clear the staging area that's being used for the tanks so that they don't present an additional hazard in the future.

Our water is safe: public works director reports no contamination

John Angulo, Globe’s Public Works Director, said he has received queries about the quality of the water in town following the flood event. He explained that the city water system is a closed system fed by Cutter Well and has not been affected by contaminants.

“As far as the quality of the water, that has never changed,” he said.

Sewer system and bridges are being put to the test

One of the greater concerns the department has involves the city sewer system, he said. The covers to the manholes were sheared off during the storm, leaving sewer lines exposed and allowing whatever was in the water to flow into the sewer, including rocks and debris.

Now, several days later, “the backups are starting to show themselves,” he says.

Coincidentally, the city acquired a jetter truck the week before the storm and is now utilizing it to clear the sewer lines.

Angulo said that the impact of the flood on the city's bridges is another big concern. ADOT inspected 10 bridges throughout the city on Wednesday, including Yuma and Haskins bridges, which are currently blocked off. ADOT likely won’t have complete reports on the status of the bridges until sometime next week.

The department will also perform additional cleanup in the creeks once search and rescue efforts are complete.

“There are a lot of areas that have been filled with material,” Angulo said. “If we have a wet winter or any additional flow, the amount of sediment that has filled some of these areas, it's not going to take that much to top off another bridge.”

The city says it has met with 68 of the 84 businesses affected

Assistant city manager Linda Oddonetto presented on disaster relief funding.

Since Monday, the city had been meeting with business owners to find out how they’ve been affected by the flood, Oddonetto said.

“We tried to make personal visits to each of the 84 that were owners within the path of the water, and made time to visit with 68 and find out how they were impacted,” she explained.

Of the 68 businesses, 45 were impacted by the flood and 22 were not, she added. Ten business owners don’t have an ETA on reopening and are at risk of closing permanently, she said, while 35 plan to open as soon as possible.

Donations are at more than $500,000, and residences and businesses can apply for aid

She reported that at the time of the meeting, $513,423 had been raised so far on behalf of flood victims, including contributions from APS, BHP, Freeport McMoRan, United Fund, and Washington Federal. Donors have designated between $231,000 and $232,000 for the residential recovery program and $180,000 for the business recovery program.

Residential flood victims have to register with the American Red Cross and fill out an application with the Salvation Army to qualify for relief funding, she said. Each household can apply for a maximum amount of $4,500.

Beyond home repairs, households can use the funds for temporary housing and lease assistance, she said.

“If your immediate need is getting into a home because yours is not repairable, or it's not in the foreseeable future, at least that you can put a family in a residence right away,” she said.

Meanwhile, business owners affected by the flood can apply for disaster relief funding through Local First Arizona.

Will all Globe businesses affected by the flood be addressed in the city's relief process?

The next day, GMT met with Stacey and Ryan Murry who own Globe Gym. Their business was one of many that were significantly affected by the flood.

As of today, the gym was not one of the 68 businesses visited by the city, Stacey said. She is concerned about whether or not all Globe businesses that were affected by the flood will be addressed.

"On Wednesday morning, I had a ton of questions and was not sure what I was supposed to do next,” she says. “I know that they were saying that they were waiving permit fees, but I really wasn't sure what that meant. Did they still need to come and inspect it? I really didn't understand the process, so I walked over to the city myself to get some direction.”

“I understand the focus is residential first. And I understand that there are businesses that are, I mean, their buildings are almost gone,” she adds. “Maybe they based it on how [the businesses] looked on the outside… But with the fact that we are across the street [from city hall], I can't imagine they didn't know.”

Because there was no water mark from the flood in the interior of the gym, it was several days before the Murrys realized how high the water had gotten in the building.

“It wasn't until we saw a video that someone took at G-Hill of how high the water got on the building, and we realized it was a lot higher than we had assumed,” Stacey says. “That's when we decided to tear into the sheet rock and start checking, and the insulation was soaking wet. The amount of mud that was in those gaps between the sheet rock and the insulation was an insane amount of mud.”

With the help of volunteers, the drywall has been cut and the mud cleared. The lower drywall and insulation now need to be replaced, along with all the flooring. All the gym equipment still needs to be checked for damage. Because of how heavy all the equipment is, this will take time.

“Everything in here is extremely heavy. So, when we have to clean a section, we have to move really heavy equipment, and it's not something you can just throw on a dolly and just go,” she says. “That process is very time-consuming, and really, honestly, back-breaking.”

Nonetheless, the Murrys will reopen Globe Gym.

"We have been working morning to night," Stacey says. "We plan to open as soon as possible."

Correction: This article originally stated that the council would later discuss whether to waive water fees for businesses and residents and pull $200,000 from the city’s contingency fund to contribute to businesses impacted by the flood. The council had, in fact, approved both measures at the conclusion of the meeting.