Trump’s border wall requires open storm gates to avoid flash floods in certain areas: report

President Trump’s border wall will require manual storm gates in areas along the Arizona border, The Washington Post reported Thursday. 

U.S. Border Patrol officials told the Post that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) engineers determined that storm gates would be required in rural areas of that portion of the border during monsoon season and would have to be left open for months at a time.

The gates would both prevent floods and stop the wall from collapsing under the pressure of rising waters. Unlike the electric-powered gates in some areas, the portions of the wall in rural areas will have to be moved manually and patrolled by Border Patrol officers while they’re open. 

Unlike the parts of the border in Texas, which is also vulnerable to flooding, the Arizona border has no river — just a desert that’s susceptible to flash flooding during summer thunderstorms. 

It’s unclear from the Post’s report how much extra funding the gates will require. In February 2019, President Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S. border, leading him to divert $7.2 billion in military funds to go to border wall construction. 

CBP did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Hill.