1.
Aerial view. Flooded fields (2 shots)
0.14

2.
Aerial view. Remains of bridge
0.23

3.
Aerial views. Clifton and flooded homes (5 shots)
0.48

4.
CU Plane crew members (2 shots) GV Joining point of two rivers (2 shots)
1.05

5.
Aerial view. Little Hollywood
1.11

6.
GV Flooded house Pull back to other homes (2 shots)
1.20


"Gorton County officials say the water was fifteen to twenty feet deep in some places and at Safford both highways were washed away, bridges crumbled."



"The flooding began upstream from Safford near the small mining town of Clifton".



"The San Francisco River, fed by torrential rains from Western Mexico and Eastern Arizona, flooded one hundred Clifton homes and at least ten businesses."



"By the afternoon, 450 families had been evacuated from the town of twenty-five hundred. The Army National Guard flew rescue missions throughout the day. The San Francisco River joins the Gila River just west of Clifton. As the Gila carried its floodwaters westward, it spilled its muddy water throughout the Safford Valley. Two hundred people were forced from their Safford homes. Hardest hit was the small community of Little Hollywood in East Safford. The small houses were no match for the powerful and destructive floodwaters".




Initials ESP/1841 ESP/1857


THIS NBC film carries a commentary by reporter Bill Redeker. A transcript appears below.

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Arizona, police and Army rescue teams moved in as floodwaters receded from the State's devastated Safford Valley. Six people are missing after floodwaters, fifteen to twenty feet deep, engulfed the valley on saturday (21 October).

Peak floodwaters of the San Francisco and Gila Rivers inundated hundreds of homes throughout the area. Inhabitants were evacuated from their homes as the floodwaters encroached on the towns of York, Duncan, Clifton and Safford.