Water on the road in Yuma: what a few inches can do, what the law says, and who to call

Here's the strange thing about rain in Yuma. We get so little of it that most of us never build the habits that wetter places take for granted. Then a single storm drops a season's worth in an evening, and everyone has to figure it out at once.

It happened in September 2025. On the night of Sept. 4, a storm left one neighborhood in knee-high water, knocked down dozens of trees and cut power to hundreds. Calls to the Yuma Fire Department nearly tripled the daily average, AZFamily reported. A department spokesman described a familiar scene: people drove into flooded areas, got stuck and left their vehicles there. Out at Yuma Proving Ground that same night, parts of the post got more than two inches of rain in about an hour. "We got almost our average annual rain in an hour or two," the post's lead meteorologist told the Army.

Most storms here are nothing like that. But the ones that are don't give much notice. So here's what's worth knowing before the next one.

A few inches is more than it looks

The National Weather Service's numbers are worth memorizing, because they're smaller than most people expect. Six inches of fast-moving water can knock an adult off their feet. Twelve inches can float a small car. Eighteen to 24 inches of flowing water can carry off most vehicles, big SUVs included, according to the weather service.

The weather service's warnings in Arizona end with the same reminder for a reason: most flood deaths happen in vehicles, as this Nov. 1 NWS Tucson warning puts it.

The trouble is that you can't judge depth from the driver's seat, and you can't see whether the road under the water is still there. In a wash, the water can also be coming from rain that fell miles away. If the bottom isn't visible, you don't know what you're driving into.

Your car makes waves

Flooding in Yuma isn't only a danger to drivers. It's a danger from them.

In November 2025, residents of one flood-prone Yuma neighborhood asked drivers to slow down, telling KYMA that cars speeding through flooded streets were pushing waves of water toward their homes. One neighbor, Adrienne Syddon, said those waves had pushed water up to her house. Her family had already spent months living in a hotel after an earlier flood.

A car that's fine at 30 mph through a puddle can still put water in somebody else's living room. If the street is flooded and you have to be on it, go slow enough that you aren't making a wake.

What the "stupid motorist law" actually says

Arizona has a law with a famously rude nickname, and it's narrower than its reputation.

Under A.R.S. 28-910, a driver can be held liable for the cost of an emergency response if three things are true: the road was temporarily covered by water, it was barricaded because of flooding, and crews had to pull out the driver, a passenger or a vehicle that had stopped working. Liability is capped at $2,000 per incident. That covers the reasonable costs of police, fire, rescue and emergency medical crews at the scene, though regulated ambulance charges are excluded. The statute also says insurance policies may exclude that liability.

A second part of the law lets the same costs be charged to someone convicted of intentionally driving into a flooded area under a separate statute, A.R.S. 28-693.

In practice, it isn't charged often. Arizona reporters have been noting for years that the law is rarely enforced. I don't think that's the point, though. A $2,000 bill is a pretty mild outcome next to the one the weather service is warning about.

Towing, repairs and whatever your insurance company thinks about all this are separate.

Yuma has its trouble spots

The City of Yuma keeps a map of known flood-prone areas on its storm support page, so residents can see ahead of time whether their street tends to collect water. It's worth a look now, while it's dry.

Some spots come up again and again. In January 2024, flooding closed Avenue A at 28th Street, and Union Pacific closed its railroad crossing on Fortuna Road between Highway 95 and 24th Street, KYMA reported. The La Quinta retention basin near 29th Lane Linear Park has drawn standing-water complaints for years, and the City's $406,615 pumping fix isn't scheduled to begin construction until Dec. 2, as we reported.

In the county, desert washes are the bigger worry. They're dry roads until they suddenly aren't.

Sandbags: free, but you do the shoveling

When heavy rain is in the forecast, the City of Yuma offers free sandbags through Public Works, according to the City. It usually takes the form of a self-serve station at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive. Before Tropical Storm Rachel in October, the City stocked sand and empty bags, limited them to five per vehicle and asked people to bring their own shovels, the City said.

Yuma County Public Works ran its own station for Rachel, with a limit of six bags per vehicle, and recommended bringing a shovel, gloves and closed-toe shoes. San Luis Fire Station 1 had one too, KYMA reported.

These stations are announced storm by storm. They aren't open all the time. If you know your garage or doorway takes on water, it's worth getting bags the first time they're offered and keeping them.

After the water goes down

The state's Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions recommends photographing or filming damage before you clean up, calling your insurer promptly, keeping records of what you spend, and making only temporary repairs until the insurer has a chance to inspect. Before you hire anyone, check that the contractor is licensed with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.

Who to call

• Anyone in danger, a car in moving water, or a downed power line: 911. APS says to stay at least 100 feet from a fallen line and treat it as live.
• City of Yuma flooding or street problems: Public Works, (928) 373-4500. After hours: (928) 783-7601.
• Non-emergency City reports: Yuma Click & Fix. It isn't monitored around the clock, so don't use it for anything urgent.
• APS power outages: (855) 688-2437 or the APS outage center.
• Wellton water: Town Public Works on-call, (928) 785-3348.
• Road closures and conditions: AZ511.

None of this is complicated. It just tends to get forgotten in a place where it's usually sunny. Which, most days, is a pretty good problem to have.

Sources

• AZFamily, Cleanup continues in Yuma after Tropical Storm Lorena flooding, Sept. 9, 2025: Yuma Fire calls nearly tripled the daily average; Francisco Leon on abandoned vehicles; power out to hundreds
• U.S. Army, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground recovers from monsoon damage: more than two inches in about an hour, Sept. 4, 2025; Mark Hendrickson quote
• National Weather Service Grand Forks, Turn Around Don't Drown: 6, 12 and 18 to 24 inch figures
• NWS Tucson Flood Warning, Nov. 1, 2026, as republished by GovOneStop: "Most flood deaths occur in vehicles"
• KYMA, Flooded streets have Yuma residents asking drivers to be considerate, Nov. 21, 2025
• Arizona Legislature, A.R.S. 28-910: subsections A (conditions), B (28-693 conviction), C ($2,000 cap, covered costs, ambulance exclusion), D (insurance exclusion)
• 10News, Driver rescued from flood water ticketed in Scottsdale: law "rarely enforced"
• City of Yuma, Storm Support Information: flood-prone areas map, free sandbag service, Public Works (928) 373-4500
• City of Yuma, City Offers Self-Serve Sandbag Filling Station, Oct. 8, 2026
• Yuma County, Yuma County Public Works opens sandbag station ahead of forecast rain, Oct. 8, 2026: six bags per vehicle; shovel, gloves, closed-toe shoes
• KYMA, Yuma County preps for weekend storms, Oct. 9, 2026: San Luis Fire Station 1 station
• KYMA, Rain floods several roads in Yuma County, Jan. 22, 2024
• Yuma Informed, After Years of Drainage Complaints, Yuma Approves $406,615 Pumping Project for La Quinta Basin, Oct. 13, 2026
• Arizona DIFI, disaster resources
• Yuma Informed, Storms Knock Out Water in Wellton, Collapse Walls in the Foothills, Oct. 12, 2026: City after-hours line, Click & Fix note, APS outage line and downed-line guidance, Wellton Public Works line, DIFI and Registrar of Contractors guidance