Flood water made dramatic return (VIDEO)

VERDE VALLEY – The Verde River has begun to respond to the sharp rise in its feeder creeks, which have been flowing high all day.

Oak Creek, Wet Beaver Creek, Dry Beaver Creek, West Clear Creek and Fossil Creek have are all continuing to rise. A Flood Watch is in place across the Verde Valley through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. There is a Flood Warning specifically for Oak Creek, including Sedona and Cornville, through Thursday morning with “moderate” flooding predicted.

At Sedona, Oak Creek was at 8.9 feet and rising. In Cornville, it was measured at 7.8 feet and rising.

The warning from NWS regarding Oak Creek in Cornville:

“At 7.0 feet, flooding begins to inundate lower terrace of RV park upstream of Page Springs Road Bridge.

“At 8.0 feet, flooding of lower terrace of RV park upstream of Page Springs Road Bridge.

“At 9.0 feet, hiking trails along banks of creek affected. Portions of residential yards flooded.

“At 12.0 feet, significant flooding of RV park near Page Springs Road.”

Back on March 16, the Cornville gage read 12.5 at its peak. This week, it may run as high as 14.8 feet before receding below flood stage of 8 feet by Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, Wet Beaver Creek at Lake Montezuma plateaued today at 9.4 feet, a height it reached twice last week, but it is expected to crest at 11.5 feet at 9 a.m. Wednesday, reaching moderate flood stage. Dry Beaver Creek at Rimrock is at 8.69 feet and rising and moving at 7,510 cubic feet per second.

West Clear Creek is expected to peak at 8.8 feet Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the Verde River at Clarkdale rose more than foot today before declining again. It is still running higher than average at 5.5 feet.

At Camp Verde, however, the Verde took a sharp jump between 2:30 and 4 p.m., rising from 9 feet to more than 11.5 feet.

And Fossil Creek, which rose from 3.75 feet early this morning to more than 10 feet this afternoon, is flowing at 6,080 cfs.

Again, residents and visitors are advised to use caution around all waterways and to not drive through flooded crossings, whether they have caution signs posted or not.