Wednesday, August 20, 2014
PHOENIX (AP) — A series of storms dumped more than 4.5 inches of rain on areas north of Phoenix on Tuesday, requiring several dramatic rescues and resulting in many visible examples of damage. Here are some examples of the destruction brought on by the floodwaters:
As violent floodwaters submerged a house in New River, two women became trapped with nowhere to go, the home apparently knocked from its foundation. They called for help, and one of them waved a white piece of fabric out a window. The Phoenix Fire Department sent a helicopter and hoisted two rescuers onto the roof to guide the residents to safety. Also saved were three dogs in the house.
WOMAN IN MINIVAN:
A minivan was swamped by rising floodwaters with an older woman inside the vehicle. A rescuer waded through the water, broke out the front driver's side window and entered the white van. He grabbed the woman and helped escort her to dry land. Two rescuers carried her to a nearby garage and sat her down in a lawn chair.
WATER ON INTERSTATE
Interstate 17 became the sight of a surreal image as the brown water from the flood washed over the state's major north-south freeway. Some cars drove through the rising waters, others were forced into the left lane, and portions of the highway were temporarily closed.
The Cox Cactus Farm was inundated by a creek that runs through its property, forcing workers into an all-out effort to save the company's more than 600 varieties of plants, cactuses and shrubs. In the end, hundreds of cactuses and plants washed away in the torrential flood.
Firefighters in Tucson rescued a woman who was stranded in her car. A video by the Tucson Fire Department showed a rescuer climbing an extended ladder to reach the woman, who was driving a four-door sedan. The firefighter gave the woman a life vest before helping her climb out of the car and onto the ladder.