Floodwaters swept away a truck near Tonopah, tossing it onto its side nearly 30 feet from dry ground, before a helicopter crew swooped in and hoisted the trapped driver to safety in under five minutes. The dramatic rescue unfolded amid a stretch of heavy rain and widespread flooding that kept first responders across the Phoenix area busy on Tuesday.
According to azfamily.com, the truck was swept away by rushing water and overturned nearly 30 feet from dry ground, leaving the driver stranded as the flood kept rising. Rescue pilot Rich Dickner flew the helicopter that responded to the scene, while rescuer Lindsey Smith dangled 80 feet below the aircraft on a hoist line to reach the stuck vehicle. The outlet reported that floodwater had risen up to the top of the truck's window by the time crews arrived, adding urgency to an already precarious situation.
Despite the tight window, the station's report says crews hoisted the driver to safety in under five minutes. Separate reporting from Yahoo News described the same scene in Tonopah, roughly an hour west of Phoenix, noting that video showed a sheriff's office helicopter hoisting a man from a vehicle surrounded by rushing water, and that the person swept away in the truck was able to escape unhurt.
A Busy Day for Water Rescue Crews West of the Valley
The Tonopah rescue was not an isolated event Tuesday. Per Yahoo News, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office responded to three separate reports of people caught in flooding across Arizona that day. ABC15 reported that crews also responded to a second, distinct incident in Tonopah, where two people were rescued from a truck stuck in a wash with water halfway up its windows, and to a call in nearby Wickenburg, where a van carrying three people got stuck in a flooded wash and a rescue helicopter carried the occupants to safety.
In that same Wickenburg response, Wickenburg Fire and Police pulled a driver and a dog from a separate pickup truck, and the driver was taken to a hospital for evaluation, ABC15 reported. Rich Dickner, speaking to azfamily.com, described the pattern as familiar territory for rescue crews in the area, saying it is “always the same scenario” whenever it rains.
Storm Fueled by Hurricane Polo's Remnants
The flooding traced back to a Pacific storm system pulling tropical moisture from Odalys and Polo, which forecasters said would bring rain, thunderstorms and localized flooding to Arizona, according to azfamily.com's forecast coverage. The heaviest rainfall was expected to arrive late Monday afternoon and continue through Tuesday morning, with a Flood Watch scheduled to take effect late Monday night through Tuesday night across parts of the northern and eastern Valley. Forecasters projected rainfall totals of 0.25 to 1.00 inches across the Valley and 1 to more than 2 inches in the High Country.
The storm's reach extended well beyond the Phoenix area. The Washington Post reported that flash flooding forced evacuations and breached levees across the Southwest as remnants of Hurricane Polo moved north, with flood watches in effect for tens of millions of people after Polo made landfall in Mexico's Baja California Sur and hurtled toward the United States.
Tonopah's Washes Have a History of Trapping Vehicles
Tuesday's rescue echoes past incidents in the same stretch of desert. In November 2025, crews saved two people from a truck trapped in floodwaters near Tonopah, finding the vehicle stuck in a wash with water halfway up its windows, according to azfamily.com's earlier reporting. Authorities later confirmed that rescue was successful and that no one was injured.
The recurring danger underscores why local crews treat every heavy rain event around Tonopah with caution, as low-lying washes can fill quickly and strand drivers who misjudge the depth of rushing water.
