Photos: Arizona's Monsoon Season Damages Border Wall

Rains from this year's monsoon season were strong enough to wash away cars and portions of the border wall.

Photos and videos shared by environmentalists in Arizona show massive metal gates that were torn off their hinges near Douglas, Arizona. Mud, sticks, and other debris appear caught in what's left of the gate.

The Border Patrol confirmed with the Tucson Sentinel that heavy rains were responsible and that the agency is assessing the damage.

The gates were damaged despite being left open as a precautionary measure to let the water flow through. However, monsoon rains are unpredictable and the walls couldn't hold up to the debris, Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity told Border Report.

“To those of us in Arizona, we know these monsoon storms erupt out of nowhere and drop inches of inches of rain throughout the desert,” Jordahl said. “Border Patrol has said, ‘We’re opening gates to allow the passage of water,’ and we have over and over and over again told them that is completely inadequate because of the debris that flows during these flash floods.”

The Douglas area has received near 10 to 12 inches of rain from June 15 to August 18, the Sentinel reported.

It's unclear if the damaged gates will be repaired or left as is since there is a federal moratorium on border wall construction.