PHOENIX — A storm that rolled through metropolitan Phoenix on Sunday morning brought about a half inch of rain, sent water rushing through washes and flooded homes in Scottsdale.
Storm rolls through metro Phoenix, floods washes and homes, prompts road closures
Authorities said they rescued several motorists who became trapped in their vehicles as they tried to drive through floodwaters. No injuries were reported.
An unknown number of homes in an area of western Scottsdale were inundated, officials said.
The downpour prompted the shutdown of U.S. 60 in Tempe, but that closure has since been lifted. State Route 88 northeast of Apache Junction and state Route 238 west of the Pinal County community of Maricopa were also closed.
Authorities say motorists approaching flooded roads should either turn around and find a new route or wait until floodwaters have receded.
Areas north of Tucson also were seeing rain Sunday. A flood advisory was issued for an area 15 miles southwest of Kearny.
On Saturday, southeast Tucson experienced flash flooding from a storm that brought about three-fourths of an inch of rain.
The storm led to several downed electric power lines in Tucson and two water rescue efforts Saturday.
A woman in her 40s who was under a Tucson bridge was swept away into a wash by floodwaters. The woman was able to get out of the water on her own and was then taken to a hospital.
In a separate incident, three children who were playing in a wash that wasn't running became trapped on a sand island by a rush of floodwaters. The children, ages 8, 10 and 12, were rescued.
An overnight storm also had dropped a half-inch of rain from Yuma to western Maricopa County, though the rainfall reached more than 2 inches in certain spots. There were no reports of flash flooding from that storm.
The storms that brought rain to many spots in Arizona were expected to end in the coming days as the moist air will once again turn dry.
"This period of moist weather is almost at an end," said Chris Kuhlman, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Phoenix. "Today (Sunday) will be the last day."
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In a story published Apr. 12, 2024, about an anesthesiologist charged with tampering with bags of intravenous fluids and causing cardiac emergencies, The Associated Press erroneously spelled the first surname of defendant Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz. It is Rivera, not Riviera.