The top 3 photos are from Bing images in Phoenix and the bottom
photo is also from Bing, but in Nevada.
PHOENIX
(AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Norbert pushed into the desert Southwest and
swamped Phoenix with record rainfall for a single day, turning freeways into
small lakes and sending rescuers scrambling to get drivers out of inundated
cars.
At least two
people died in the flooding, including a woman who was swept away in her car by
rushing water and became trapped against a bridge. In addition, a 76-year-old
woman drowned in floodwaters.
By Monday
evening, floodwaters were threatening up to 100 homes in suburban Mesa after
retention basins and channels along the U.S. 60 freeway reached or exceeded
capacity, allowing water to flow into some neighborhoods, city officials said.
Crews
were working 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.
The
flooding was caused by heavy thunderstorms and showers associated with Norbert
after it was downgraded to a tropical depression.
Sections
of the two main east-west and north-south freeways through Phoenix —
Interstates 10 and 17 — were closed during the morning commute, snarling
traffic across the metro area.
Cars and
SUVs sat in water up to their hoods on Interstate 10, while dozens of motorists
parked on its wide, banked borders to stay clear of the water. A state
Department of Public Safety officer used the roof of his SUV to carry three
stranded motorists from a flooded area of I-10.
Joseph
Friend was driving onto the freeway at 43rd Avenue about 4:15 a.m. when a
passing big rig ruined his day.
"A
big tidal wave just came up and totally took me out, came over the hood of my
truck," Friend said.
With
water filling his vehicle, he climbed out and walked up the freeway embankment
to wait it out. His pickup truck was barely visible at the peak of the
flooding.
Other
drivers were stranded in the median. After the highway was shut down, a woman
on top of her car in the median called for help, so Friend waded out and led
her to safety.
"She
was asking for help and nobody went out there, so I went out there and helped
her out," Friend said. "I was already soaked anyway."
By late
morning, the water on I-10 had receded, allowing trucks to take away several
dozen vehicles that had been swamped and stranded.
The National
Weather Service recorded 3.29 inches of rain at the Phoenix airport, by far the
most precipitation ever received in one day in the city. The previous record
was 2.91 inches in 1939.
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