GLOBE – Almost a year later, Globe Mayor Al Gameros can still vividly recall how quickly that otherwise normal late September evening turned his city upside down.
“I drove downtown about 45 minutes before the flood hit, and downtown was full of restaurants, bars, everybody was out enjoying themselves,” he said. “And then I get the call, and when I did, I came here, and when I started driving here, it was amazing to see the amount of vehicles on the roadway, debris, propane tanks everywhere.”
Gameros has videos of the immediate aftermath saved on his phone. The videos show people screaming for help as they cling to trees, roads overrun with water and cars caked in mud. It resembles a scene straight out of a disaster movie.
“People had no warning,” he said. “The restaurant there, 35 people eating in there, and the water blew out the backside and into the inside and out the front. They were on top of the tables, holding onto the wall. They finally broke the front window, and they were swept into the road and holding on to trees and cars just to save themselves.”
The rain was so rapid and concentrated that it created a 6 foot swell in only 30 minutes in Pinal Creek at Bear Tree, just a few miles from downtown Globe. With so little time to react, people were thrown to the elements, which proved fatal.
“We lost two lives in the downtown that night,” Gameros said. “They were swept into the creeks, in the waterways. So it was devastating. Never seen anything like it.”
A lifelong resident and former fire chief, Gameros is deeply ingrained in the community of just over 7,000 residents. Add his experience leading Globe through the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Telegraph Fire, and his constituents have reason to trust him throughout this process. He said he learned very quickly the flood would be his biggest test as their leader.
Immediate response
The initial cleanup was a testament to the city’s resilience. Thousands of people from all over the state and country arrived to help businesses and residents with the mountains of rubble and debris, activated through the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, or DEMA. It showed how quickly people are willing to help in times of crisis, and how quick the state’s emergency response can be, said Gabe Lavine, director of DEMA’s Division of Emergency Management.
“It doesn’t have to be a really cumbersome or arduous process of activating that assistance,” he said. “Simple phone call from the local contact, which is our county and tribal emergency managers, to either our duty officer or myself, and we start to initiate our processes to mobilize resources and support the community.”
Many of the business owners were also quick to begin their work in rebuilding what they had lost, even at their own expense. It helped get the downtown area on its feet much quicker than expected, Gameros said.
“They believe in it, and they love this city, this community, and they were willing to build back into it,” he said.
Soon after these first steps towards recovery concluded, public interest outside of the region waned. But the process for those involved was only just beginning.
Funding issues
In December 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied Arizona’s request for federal funding to support recovery efforts. It was a shock, and a massive blow to Globe’s funding needs. The city was forced to scramble for other funds and grants.
“We’re limited to the public assistance grant at the state level rather than the federal level, which is a 75% reimbursement as opposed to 90%,” said Gila County Emergency Manager Carl Melford.
The city did as much as it could with the financial hand dealt to them. But one misstep could jeopardize the funds they have. For instance, the money they received from the National Resources Conservation Service to dig out their creek must be spent within the next three months, or they lose whatever is leftover.
“There’s so much paperwork involved just to get your reimbursement back right now, so we need to make sure that we do the paperwork properly,” Gameros said. “If we don’t do it properly, they’ll throw it out.”
While there is a pending appeal over the FEMA funding, the process continues to drag, Lavine said.
“The discussion with our regional partners in FEMA is on what are eligible damages or ineligible damages,” he said. “The federal program is very complex and very, very cumbersome.”
Other funds have been recently granted to relieve some of the burden, at least temporarily. As part of the new state budget, Gila County, the town of Miami and the city of Globe were granted a combined $10 million toward recovery efforts. Gameros praised the state government for their willingness to continue to fund the reconstruction.
“This funding represents more than dollars. It represents hope, partnership, and a continued commitment to the people of our region,” Gameros said in a public statement.
People affected
Residents are in desperate need of some of that hope. A short drive from downtown into a small residential street reveals how much farther reconstruction efforts still have to go. Several houses are marked with red paper, indicating that they are uninhabitable. Debris and mud line some of the properties. Shingles are loose, and fences are bent. For one couple who own a house on the street, it’s been a chore to find out if they can rebuild.
When Robert and Renee Nims bought their house on Jesse Hayes Road 25 years ago, it was a grey shack they intended to make into a summer home. After years of love and care for the property, they realized they were ready to move in full time, and sold their home in Queen Creek. By the time the flood hit, they only had five years left on their mortgage, thousands of dollars invested into new appliances, and a plan for Renee Nims to finally retire and allow them to enjoy the rest of their lives peacefully in their beautiful home.
Then, while on a lake getaway, they got a frantic phone call.
“We got a call from our neighbor across the street who said she was knee-deep in water,” Robert Nims said. “When the fire department got out here finally, I heard they got her out by a boat.”
They heard similar stories from their neighbors who were home when it happened. The water rushed into their houses and rose rapidly, consuming anything it could. Although they felt lucky to be out of their house when the actual flood happened, the Nimses dreaded what waited for them when they returned.
They came back to a disaster. Their entire yard was caked in thick mud, and their garage was torn off its foundation. Inside, volunteers were already gutting their home of its damaged goods. It was too much for Robert Nims to handle.
“I had an anxiety attack, I guess, and I ended up in the hospital,” he said. “So I get out the next day, and everything’s out of the house, we’re out of the house, the house is full of mud, things are all torn up in my shop.”
The couple’s road to recovery mirrored the experience of Globe in its financial struggles. They were originally told they could save the home, but they would have to make significant changes to the property in order for it to be deemed habitable. A parade of engineers, plumbers, electricians and others visited the property. As they did, the estimated cost continued to rise.
“They had actual estimates starting out at $114,000, and it went all the way up to $257,000,” Robert Nims said.
After the surveys, it was determined that the house was not just in the flood zone, as it was initially zoned, but in the actual waterway. Government officials told the couple that, essentially, they either had to pay to save the severely damaged house as it was, or abandon the property completely. They are not allowed to build a new structure.
“It’s been an emotional road,” Robert Nims said. “It’s up. It’s down. One day we’re fixing it, next day we’re not. One day we got paperwork, the next day we don’t have paperwork. Can’t get the permits until you get the paperwork, can’t get the paperwork until the people that are doing the paperwork get it done.”
In the end, they decided to abandon the property entirely. While staying in a friend’s family trailer, they have begun the process of removing any salvageable personal belongings from the home they’ve occupied for over two decades. Though she asked not to be formally interviewed, Renee Nims recalled sobbing on the phone with the mortgage company while she paid the rest of the house off with the insurance money the couple had.
“We were going to fix it, but too many strings, too many hoops to jump,” Robert Nims said. “It’s a devastating affair.”
What comes next
Robert and Renee Nims are representative of how much more there is left for Globe to tackle. Dump trucks and excavators work seven days a week, 12 hours a day to deepen the waterways once more. Gameros, Melford and Lavine continue to fight for more funding so that residents and businesses can get more relief. Despite their best efforts, the potential for another monster flood this year looms.
Sean Benedict, a lead meteorologist for the Phoenix branch of the National Weather Service, said a very strong El Nińo could send more rain to Globe. Melford said that the current state of warning systems and measuring instruments are still inadequate to warn residents.
The only way to prevent another catastrophic event is to continue to bring awareness to the efforts still being made, Gameros said.
“People think after eight months that we’re good,” he said. “Nothing is really happening, and everything looks good. But no, it’s an everyday struggle.”
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