Crews in Arizona find two people floating in flash flooding from monsoon storms

NOGALES, Ariz. (NBC, KYMA) - In Nogales, Arizona Friday morning, crews are busy working to identify the two people found floating in the Nogales Wash.

The bodies were found after flash flooding from monsoon storms Thursday.

Nogales City Councilman Saulo Bonilla said it unfortunately happens every monsoon, and said the flooding can threaten the international sewer line under the wash.

Councilman Bonilla said authorities in Nogales were asked to help recover the bodies, with Chief Ken Larriva saying it hasn't been confirmed where the two people entered the water.

Bonilla says the rushing waters are from the Mexican side of the border, adding that the water level through the Nogales Wash was twice as high earlier.

Evidence of past storms is visible along the wash, whether that's shifted concrete panels or erosion far from current water levels.

Bonilla explains there's also an unseen risk from flooding like this in Nogales to the international sewer line running underneath the wash, known as the International Outfall Interceptor.

"So when we have this type of flooding, it outs in danger that it could burst. It has burst in the past," Bonilla explained.

Bonilla stressed Nogales is prepared for monsoon storms with sandbags, barricades and portable lights in flood-prone areas like downtown.

He urges people not to cross flooded washes no matter where they are.

"You know just wait ten, 15, 20 minutes or an hour whatever it takes. You don't want to lose a life, nothing's so important that you can't wait a few minutes," Bonilla expressed.