Arizona County Ends Probe Into Flooding in Anthem

An investigation by Maricopa County has ended into how a rainstorm severely flooded parts of the community of Anthem, Ariz., last month.

County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick tells The Arizona Republic that the county concluded the July 31 storm in Anthem was a one-in-1,000-year rain catastrophe and beyond the government’s control.

The storm unleashed flash floods, ruined landscapes, muddied streets and damaged homes.

Gerchick says the county’s Flood Control District concluded that the weather system was “an extreme storm” and delivered a “very heavy” rainfall for up to 90 minutes.

Five inches of rain fell on Anthem in that time period.

In many cases, homeowners didn’t have flood insurance on their homes and were left wondering if more could have been done to prevent the damage.