Madam Drachman and the 1887 Arizona flood: Part 2. The Downpour Disaster Half of this story is fake, but the gripping part is the other half that is not By Mig Reyes-Mariano   In 1887, Arizona experienced two devastating natural disasters. In late spring, a strong earthquake in northern Mexico (estimated at 7.4-7.6) caused disastrous structural damage to buildings in Tucson (Noonan, 2013). Late in the summer, heavy rainfall caused severe flooding that damaged bridges and streets and washed away crops along the San Pedro River (National Weather Service, n.d.). These two natural disasters resulted in a historical record-breaking year