Aftermath of the Schultz Fire

We recently had a large fire sweep across the east side of the San Francisco Peaks here in Flagstaff, causing many of us who live in the area to evacuate our homes. Fortunately, we had a top notch group of firefighters, forest service, hot shots, etc., who worked tirelessly to contain the fire, and there were no lives or structures lost. But now we are having to prepare for the almost certainty that we will be having flash flooding in the area for at least the next 5 years as the vegetation begins to come back, and the soil is restored. Currently, we have large helicopters dumping large loads of mulch material to help absorb rain, but in the meantime, the ever-present winds are causing a lot of dust swirling along the mountain side. I captured several shots of one in progress this afternoon, and it's really quite a sight:

On hindsight, I should have grabbed the video camera, but my first impulse is always the digital for stills. This is about as close as I want to get to anything that resembles a tornado!

Meanwhile, I dug a shallow trench yesterday across the yard in front of our house, and today a friend came with his truck to pick up straw wattles for us, then pounded the stakes thru them to anchor them in case we get sheet flooding in our yard. This will help keep the waters from flooding under the house, or seeping into the patio room:

I still have about 5 left to go along the side of the garage, then maybe I will get some sandbags for the front of the property... we get lots of water flow across the road to our house, which is unpaved and currently full of ruts from the winter snowmelt. If the water flow gets deep, it could run onto the property from the road, but I think the biggest problem has been dealt with. Such a fun summer we are having!