1.
AV Flooded land at Duncan Arizona (2 shots)
0.10

2.
GV Floodwater covering street
0.14

3.
GV & SV Wreck building & man clearing wreckage (2 shots)
0.21

4.
GV Citizens clean belongings in street
0.24

5.
GV Damaged building
0.27

6.
MVs & GVs Mud being cleared from street & covering automobiles & around buildings (5 shots)
0.42


In the small community of Duncan, population about 1,000, the water level had down enough to begin cleaning up the aftermath of a week of heavy rain. Silt and mud was in every downtown business and most homes, and the people of Duncan are unable to do anything about the silt. When the town was built the community was above the bottom of the river channel, but years of silt buildup has seen the river level nine feet higher than the town's main street. Rain throughout Arizona has claimed a total of seven lives. There were a number of persons missing in South-Eastern Arizona, but all have now been found safe. This is John Culea reporting.




Initials SGM/0100 SGM/0108


T/R
NOTE: This NBC film carries a commentary by reporter John Culea. A transcript follows. An alternative commentary can be found overleaf.

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The worst floods in the history of Eastern Arizona, have started to recede allowing hundreds of residents to return and salvage what is left of their homes. The rampaging floodwaters of the San Francisco and Gila rivers, inundated towns in the Safford Valley of the Mid-West State and seven people died.

Inhabitants were evacuated from their homes as water fifteen to twenty feet deep (5 to 7 metres) filled the valley. Torrential rain in Western Mexico and Eastern Arizona, forced both the San Francisco and Gila rives to burst their banks, and the flood reached its peak on Saturday (21 Oct). It was not until late Sunday, when the floodwaters started to recede, that the full extent of the damage was revealed.