Firefighters pulled six people from four vehicles trapped in rising floodwater near Stanford Drive and 40th Street in Phoenix, wading in water nearly up to their waists to reach the vehicles before a second wave of storms rolled through the Valley the evening of Oct. 30. Nobody involved was hurt, and all six were carried safely to land.
The rescue was one of several that unfolded across metro Phoenix as heavy rain triggered flash flood warnings and sent water surging through washes and low-lying roadways, according to Arizona's Family. A separate pair of cars was also caught near 32nd Street. First responders renewed their now-familiar warning to drivers: turn around, don't drown.
Separately, Phoenix firefighters were dispatched around 6:30 p.m. Friday to a reported water rescue near 40th Street and Camelback Road, where technical rescue members worked to free multiple people trapped in vehicles stuck in floodwaters on Stanford Drive, according to azcentral.com. Crews ultimately found six people trapped across four vehicles — a mix that included at least a sedan and a pickup truck — stuck in the wash, Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Todd Keller said. Firefighters again used a shallow-water entry technique to remove everyone, and all of the drivers and passengers were assessed and declined transport to the hospital.
Flooding Snarls Scottsdale and Paradise Valley Roads
Metro Phoenix was under a flood watch Friday as the storms swept through the region, the azcentral.com report noted. Thunderstorms hit north Phoenix and Scottsdale, with some areas picking up more than an inch of rain in less than an hour, per the National Weather Service.
Scottsdale firefighters reported a driver who entered three to four feet of fast-moving water in a wash near Hayden Road and McCormick Parkway. Crews rescued one person from that first vehicle, then helped two more occupants walk out of a second vehicle that followed the first one into the wash. Scottsdale Fire Captain Dave Folio noted that 17 other crossings along the Indian Bend Wash greenbelt remained available for drivers to use instead.
“When you drive in the 2 to 4 inches of water, it'll start sweeping your vehicle away,” Folio said, according to the same Arizona's Family report. He also warned drivers never to enter water if they cannot see the pavement beneath it, since a hidden manhole or curb could be lurking underneath. Scottsdale crews separately responded to an older driver whose car stalled in about two inches of water at Terravita Way, south of State Route 74 and Scottsdale Road, in far north Scottsdale.
Multiple Closures Reported Across the Valley
The flooding forced a string of road closures. Scottsdale police shut down Shea Boulevard in both directions between 65th and 70th streets because of downed power lines, directing drivers to use Cactus Road as an alternate route. Officials also closed eastbound McCormick Parkway at Scottsdale Road due to flooding, asking drivers to detour via Indian Bend Road or Doubletree Ranch Road, while flooding separately closed the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Deer Valley Road.
Folio said crews also handled two drivers stuck on flooded roads in Paradise Valley, where police closed Doubletree Ranch Road between Invergordon and Scottsdale roads because of the high water. Apache Junction officials, meanwhile, reported several flooded roads, including Lost Dutchman Boulevard west of Goldfield Road, the Tepee Street and Cortez intersection, and stretches of 4th Avenue, Junction Avenue, Scenic Street, 2nd Avenue and Delaware Drive near Tomahawk and Wickiup roads.
A Recurring Danger Along the Washes
Friday's rescues echo a pattern Scottsdale Fire has seen building for months. The department operates two technical rescue teams, each staffed with four people aboard a dedicated technical rescue truck, Folio told azfamily.com earlier this year, and those crews stage at every crossing the city closes when flooding becomes possible. Water levels in the Indian Bend Wash, Folio said, can rise above five feet once flooding sets in.
The stakes of that danger were underscored last September, when Scottsdale Fire crews pulled people from two different flooded vehicles — and then, the very next day, a 38-year-old man died in the Indian Bend Wash after his car was swept away, the station reported. Fire officials have offered differing estimates on exactly how little water it takes to become deadly: Folio has said four inches of water can knock a person off their feet while six to twelve inches can move an SUV, while a colleague, Captain Scott Folio, told ABC15 that two inches can sweep a person off their feet and two to six inches can move an SUV. Either way, officials agree that twelve inches of fast-moving floodwater can carry away most cars, and six inches can knock a person down entirely.
Friday's incidents weren't isolated to the Phoenix area, either. Similar scenes have played out across the Valley in past monsoon seasons — in July 2022, Apache Junction crews responded to five separate flood rescues in a single day, including pulling a woman from an SUV swept into a wash near Cortez Road and Tepee Street, after a rain gauge in the city recorded 2.5 inches of rainfall in just one hour, azfamily.com reported at the time. No injuries were reported in that event. With more storms capable of producing locally heavy rainfall still possible, according to the National Weather Service, officials continue to urge Valley drivers to heed the same simple warning: turn around, don't drown.
