CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
AUGUST 2
PAYSON, ARIZONA
August and September are monsoon season in Arizona. Heavy rains in the mountains bring flash floods to the low lands. Several dry wash beds outside of the city become filled with water at this time of year. Some of the small outlying communities use the river pools of water for swimming and daytime outings.
Each year people drown. They will be enjoying a quiet day with the kids, picnicking, swimming, and generally having fun, when suddenly they hear a roar, and a wall of water comes down the riverbed washing everything in sight downstream.
Yesterday, this happened again in Payson, a town to the northeast. Several family members drowned as they struggled to swim through the heavy tide of the river. Young children who traveled two miles downs
