Flash floods slam Arizona
PHOENIX — Joseph Friend was driving his blue Chevrolet S-10 pickup onto Interstate 10 early Monday when a huge wave of flood water kicked up by a big rig truck pushed his truck off the highway.
The 47-year-old Phoenix man was among more than two dozen motorists whose vehicles were swamped and left submerged in up to 4 feet of water following record-breaking rainfall that hit Phoenix on Monday.
They were the lucky ones: At least two people died when floodwaters swept away their vehicles in southern Arizona.
A woman died after her car was swept away and became trapped against a bridge in Tucson, and a 76-year-old woman drowned when her husband tried to drive across a flooded wash in Pinal County south of Phoenix.
The rain was caused by the remnants of Hurricane Norbert pushing into the desert Southwest. Phoenix recorded record rainfall for a single day, turning freeways into small lakes and sending rescuers scrambling to get drivers out of inundated cars.
Parts of Nevada also saw downpours, and 190 people from an Indian reservation about 50 miles northeast of Last Vegas was evacuated after more than 4 inches of rain fell on the rural, sparsely populated community of Moapa, pushing the Virgin River to near-flood stage.
Some homes have been damaged in flooding, which was expected to continue posing a threat overnight. It’s unclear how many homes were damaged or remained at risk.
Closures on Interstate 15, the main route from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, backed up drivers, damaged the roadway and washed away some vehicles, though no serious injuries have been reported.
Strong thunderstorms also wreaked havoc in Southern California’s deserts. Rescue crews answered more than 40 flood-related calls about stranded cars during the Monday morning commute in the La Quinta and Indian Wells areas near Palm Springs, Riverside County fire spokeswoman Jody Hagemann said. Numerous cars got stuck in high water on roads north and south of Interstate 10 in Coachella Valley, said Mike Radford, public information officer for the Indio CHP office.
Also in suburban Phoenix, crews in Mesa were trying to keep floodwaters away from around 125 homes after retention basins and channels along the U.S. 60 freeway reached or exceeded capacity, allowing water to flow into a handful of neighborhoods.
Crews worked into the night to disconnect power to submerged transformers, provide sandbags to threatened homes, and pump water from affected areas. A temporary shelter was being set up at a recreation center. City officials said any evacuations would be voluntary, however.
Norbert’s effects will likely hang around through this evening, National Weather Service meteorologist Charlotte Dewey said.
