Flood Cleanup in Sun City
Published October 8, 2026 · Last reviewed October 8, 2026 · Water Fighters Restoration
The rain quit a while ago, but the channel down the middle of 99th Avenue is still running brown. At the back of the house, water came under the patio door. The carpet is dark for three feet into the living room, and a tan line runs along the bottom of the wall.
This page is for water still in the house. Once it's gone, water damage restoration in Sun City picks up from there.
What to do right now
- Stay off flooded lanes. Don't drive or walk through water on 99th Avenue or any street running curb to curb, to get home or to meet the crew.
- Keep away from water near electricity. Stay out of any room where water touches outlets, cords, appliances, or the panel.
- If a pipe broke, close the house valve where the water line enters the home. Leave the curb meter box to EPCOR, which supplies Sun City's water. Its emergency line, 1-800-383-0834, lists its hours as "24 hours."
- Keep people and pets out of water that came in from outside. We handle runoff that crossed the street or yard as Category 3, however clear it looks.
- Photograph from dry ground, then call. Get the door where it came in and the line it left on the wall. Water Fighters Restoration is Open 24 hours, 7 days at (602) 884-5325, and on-site within an hour.
Between two rivers, flooded from the street
Sun City sits on the east side of the Agua Fria River. The New River runs just east of the community, through Peoria, and the Peoria flood page tells that river's story. When the two rivers ran high, they cut the roads around Sun City.
In December 1967, New River washouts at Peoria Avenue and Olive Avenue, "just outside of Sun City limits," left the Grand Avenue bridge as the only route to metro Phoenix. In February 1980, about 600 people were evacuated along the New River east of Sun City, and a Sun City recreation center was open to flood evacuees. The Sun City West flood page covers the Bell Road bridge collapse that month.
The newspaper record of those years describes washed-out crossings and bridges, not river water in Sun City homes. In the storms since, the documented flooding has been on streets and in the drainage channels, above all the channel down the middle of 99th Avenue.
The 99th Avenue channel
On October 6, 1993, runoff from north Sun City and Peoria "turned 99th and other north-south routes into rivers." Firefighters helped 10 people trapped "when the 8-foot drainage channel separating north and south traffic overflowed."
On July 25, 2021, the weather service logged water rescues at 98th Avenue and Granada Drive and at 99th Avenue and Burns Drive. It also reported the center channel "overflowing onto the street." On September 26, 2025, it reported John Cabot Road flooded and a water rescue near 99th Avenue and Thunderbird Road.
In each of those storms, the trouble was on the street. The monsoon flood guide explains how storm water travels from the street to a door.
Who runs the drains
The community's original builder put in the concrete channels in the 1960s and 70s, and the county has maintained them since the 1990s. Because Sun City is unincorporated, two county agencies split that work, as the Common Questions below explain. Neighborhood drainage features typically fall to a homeowners association or the local jurisdiction, the Flood Control District says.
From the threshold in
The IICRC's S500 names "rising water from rivers or streams" as a Category 3 example. Its consensus body said in February 2026 that weather-related water is not automatically Category 3. We handle street and channel runoff that came inside as Category 3 anyway, which is more cautious than the standard requires. The categories guide lays out the difference. Rain through a storm-damaged roof gets its category on inspection.
Crews set controls and pull the bulk water first. Then the moisture map sets the real edge, under the pad and up the bottom of the drywall. Porous materials the runoff reached are evaluated for removal, and drying equipment goes where the readings say.
Water Fighters Restoration works from its home base in neighboring Peoria, and one team handles mitigation and rebuild in one project. The step-by-step process is on the full flood cleanup page.
Most homeowners policies exclude flood, and runoff across the ground is treated differently from rain through a storm-opened roof. The insurance claim guide covers documenting the route from street to door.
Water Fighters Restoration is IICRC Certified 70192944 · AZ ROC 324471 · ROC 324468 · EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm · Licensed, Bonded & Insured.
Common Questions
Why does the channel down the middle of 99th Avenue overflow in heavy Sun City storms?
Runoff from north Sun City and Peoria can turn 99th Avenue into a river in a hard burst. The center channel overflowed in October 1993, when 1 to 3 inches fell in about 30 minutes. In July 1999, sections overflowed while a county construction project had them dammed. In July 2021, the weather service reported it overflowing onto the street. Stay off flooded lanes.
Who runs the drainage channels in Sun City?
Except for a few isolated pieces, the county Flood Control District or the county transportation department operates the channel system. The transportation department handles channels that double as roadways, plus crossings and bridges. The county has called at least one condominium drainage outlet a private facility. If the District maintains a feature, call (602) 506-1501 and ask for Operations and Maintenance.
Why are some of Sun City's concrete drainage channels on a county repair list?
Age and cracking. In 2019, the county's flood-control advisory board heard that the channels are "between 40 to 60 years old," and that water getting under cracked shotcrete "can pop up the thin shotcrete." A District staff study prioritized 16 locations across Sun City and Sun City West, and the board backed a resolution for repairs and improvements. Separately, a drain extension at 111th Avenue, running west to the Agua Fria, was finished in 2022.
Why did a 1970 storm knock out power in Sun City?
Water reached equipment that sits underground. In September 1970, more than 4 inches fell on Sun City and Youngtown in two and a half days. Flooded underground transformers caused a major power outage, and several streets in the south section turned into rivers. Inside a house, stay out of any flooded room where water touches outlets or the panel, and leave the power side to the utility or an electrician.
How can a Sun City owner find out whether a property sits in a mapped floodplain?
Ask the Flood Control District of Maricopa County. Its Flood Hazard Information Request is free: "There is no fee for floodplain determinations." A District representative fills out a Flood Insurance Rate Map information form "with the zone and map information." We can't tell you what zone a house is in. The District can.