Watch as this dry cliff at Tanque Verde Falls turns into a raging 75 foot waterfall in seconds! The power of monsoon weather in east Tucson, Arizona (2.5" of rain in Rincon Mountains) causes a flash flood throughout the Tanque Verde Canyon. This is a popular escape for locals also known as Redington Pass.

My name is Paul Verdugo, adventure photographer, and I was able to capture this moment at approximately 215pm on Sunday, September 15th. I captured this footage on my DJI Mavic Pro Drone (front of waterfall) along with my Go Pro Hero 7 (top of the waterfall). Before the crash of the drone, you can see where I am standing just above the big waterfall and to the left. I am a tiny human in the upper left corner. This shows how massive this canyon is in comparison.

I managed to time this rare occurrence by studying the remote rain gauges and streamflow gauges on Pima County's alert system website. With the years of experience I have had, I got pretty good at predicting the time it would take for the water to make it down from Chiva Falls to this waterfall, Tanque Verde Falls. This was a bit more challenging as the canyon was completely dry and every single pool above it had to fill up before spilling over to the next. My patience and willingness paid off, however, my battery on my drone was at low for several minutes during this footage and the propellers shut off mid-air before I could safely land. I was fortunate to only have propeller damage.

What you don't see here is how I had to scale the walls of the side of this canyon to get here. I had to witness it with my own eyes so every cut from a bush and cactus and tumble was insignificant at the time. Especially once I heard the water roaring from above the waterfall as it made its way down to the main 75 foot waterfall.

I have all raw footage available from the DJI Mavic Pro Drone and Go Pro Hero 7.

This video has not been shared with any other licensing agency.