Oak Creek reached nearly 18 feet in Sedona as parts of the city were urged to evacuate

Oak Creek reached nearly 18 feet in Sedona on Sunday, November 1, 2026, up from about 3 feet before the storm, and parts of the Arizona tourist town were urged to evacuate as the water climbed. The creek’s flow topped roughly 20,000 cubic feet per second that evening, according to the National Weather Service, compared with a typical 200. Crews pulled some residents from rooftops by helicopter.

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The flooding was one piece of a multi-day soaking across northern Arizona. By Monday the governor had declared a statewide emergency, schools in and around Sedona were closed, and officials were warning that the creek and others like it would stay high even after the rain moved out.

Oak Creek’s rise from 3 feet to nearly 18 feet

KNAU, northern Arizona’s public radio station, reported in a Monday story on the flooding that the creek rose from about 3 feet to 18 feet, and its headline put the crest at nearly 18 feet. The same story, citing the weather service, put Sunday evening flow near 20,000 cubic feet per second, far above the roughly 200 that is typical for Oak Creek and above the 8,000 that Glen Canyon Dam usually tops out at. The station’s summary line carried a lower figure of nearly 16 feet and the article did not reconcile the two, so the 18-foot reading is the one that appears in its body text.

A gauge reading is only part of the picture. Susan Balensky, a Sedona resident, told FOX 10 Phoenix that the park near the creek was one big puddle and that she had never seen it so full, while visiting tourists Matt and Lisa Johnson said the water rose about 10 feet up their road as they packed their car.

Zones 8, 9 and 10: the Sedona evacuation orders

The city’s response is detailed in a FOX 10 Phoenix report published Sunday and updated Monday. Sedona issued mandatory GO orders for evacuation zones 8, 9 and 10, a designation the city says means danger is imminent and residents must leave. The zones covered Trails End Road, Sycamore Road, the Villas at Poco Diablo Resort, the Center for the New Age, Rancho Sedona RV Park and any property adjacent to the creek. An evacuation shelter opened at the Camp Verde Community Gym, and Sedona Red Rock Jr/Sr High School closed for Monday, citing flooded homes and damaged areas.

State Routes 89A, 73, 238, 288 and 179 in Sedona and State Route 377 northbound were among the highways shut on Sunday, with no reopening time set that afternoon. Interstate 17 reopened in both directions.

Rooftop rescues and counts of homes that do not agree

KNAU reported more than 100 homes evacuated in Sedona and said Governor Katie Hobbs’s office counted six rooftop evacuations by state crews as of Sunday afternoon. Other accounts framed the numbers differently. An EMS1 report on the regional floods quoted Yavapai County spokesperson David McAtee as saying about 20 homes had residents who needed help relocating, and a Tech Times roundup described at least 100 homes in the evacuation zone with nearly 20 needing emergency help. The figures can be read together: roughly 100 homes sat inside the order, and about 20 needed a rescue or assisted move.

Coconino County Emergency Manager Tim Carter called the work that kept coming up unprecedented and told KNAU that officials could only assess damage as the areas drained. He said the county might move toward a local emergency declaration once the full impact is understood, and that clearing roads before Tuesday’s Election Day was a priority. Aaron Hardin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tucson, said Arizona was getting two or three months of rain within a couple of days.

Oak Creek gauge readings and the record question

The evidence for a record is thinner than the drama on the ground. A FOX Weather storm report, updated November 2, described rivers across Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado as cresting or expected to crest at record-high levels, and it reported several swift water rescues in Tucson and a statewide emergency declared by Hobbs on Monday. None of the Sedona-specific accounts reviewed, from KNAU, FOX 10 and EMS1, supplied a previous record for Oak Creek, so a record is not confirmed here.

What is documented is the scale of the response: evacuation orders in Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Tonto Creek and Winslow as well as Sedona, Red Cross shelters in five towns, school cancellations in Camp Verde, Sedona, Show Low and Window Rock, and a search by Flagstaff crews for a man swept into floodwaters south of downtown on Sunday. KNAU did not say whether he had been found, and the weather service warned that flooding remained a concern as rivers and creeks stayed high. In Prescott, city officials said heavy rain swelled Watson Lake and overtopped Granite Dam, which is built to withstand up to 10 feet of water flowing over it, and they were watching it closely.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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