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- Jun 22, 2020
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Record monsoon rains have blown floodgates off their hinges as Trump's border wall breaks down.
ByBrian Kahn
Flood gates on the border wall blown open by monsoon rains near San Bernardino Ranch in Arizona.
It turns out ignoring bedrock environmental laws may not have been the best choice for a multibillion-dollar construction project. Photos show former President Donald Trump’s border wall in deep disrepair after summer monsoon rains literally blew floodgates off their hinges.
The damage took place near San Bernardino Ranch, a historic site that sits between Douglas, Arizona, and the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge. Much of the West is suffering through a deep megadrought, but the monsoon rains that have swept across parts of the Southwest this summer have doused the southern half of Arizona with record-setting rains. Douglas has seen nearly double its average monsoon season rainfall so far, including a blast that came through on Monday and unleashed flooding on the Arizona-Sonora border. The National Weather Service data shows 2.15 inches (5.5 centimeters) of rain fell, which in turn funneled into washes and drove flooding.
José Manuel Pérez Cantú, the director of the nonprofit Cuenca de Los Ojos, said in an email that six gates were washed out at this location alone. Other gates were also reportedly impacted by the heavy rainfall and flooding. The power and height of the waters can be seen in not just the heavy gates ripped open but the debris that wrapped around intact portions of the wall.
Who could have predicted this? Ah yes, just about everyone.
“I will build a great wall—and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me—and I’ll build them very inexpensively,” Trump said when he announced his run for president in 2015. “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Mexico did not, in fact, pay for the wall, which led former Trump to declare a national emergency so he could funnel money from other federal projects and programs to build the wall. Nor was the wall inexpensive, costing the public billions in overruns. It was, however, chintzily built.
![gizmodo.com](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fill,h_675,pg_1,q_80,w_1200/d113fb0aa1de2d9fb9d4f299c96b1ce5.jpg)
Trump's Border Wall Torn Apart by Arizona Monsoon Rains
Record monsoon rains have blown floodgates off their hinges and sent debris crawling around Trump's border wall. This is what happens when you ignore bedrock environmental laws.
![gizmodo.com](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fill,h_80,q_80,w_80/743983ef40322777a7049971bf4faeae.png)