Parts of Arizona are under emergency declarations after record-setting rainfall this morning.
Heavy storms pounded the Phoenix area early Monday, flooding major freeways and small roads, leading to several water rescues and setting an all-time record for rainfall in the city in a single day.
City of Phoenix officials said they’ve been planning for the storm since late last week and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton warns residents they need to be alert in case there’s more rain.
“If you need sandbags, get them now," Stanton said. "There may be more rain coming. Check on your family members, check on your neighbors, especially your neighbors who are senior citizens.”
Sandbags are available at fire stations for residents who want to guard against flooding should heavy rain resume. The Red Cross has two shelters set up for people forced out of their homes by flooding at Betty Fairfax High School in Laveen and Copper Canyon High in Glendale.
“Keep yourselves and your children out of the standing water," Stanton said. "This is not a fun time, it’s not play time, it’s critically important for your safety and the safety of everyone in this community [to] stay out of flooded roads and stay out of standing water.”
Phoenix’s emergency management director Kevin Kalkbrenner said the fire department got about 1,300 emergency calls between 3 and 9 this morning.
“The police department experienced 3,491 calls from midnight to 10:30 this morning," Kalkbrenner said. "That’s 2,000 more calls than last Monday, just to give you some perspective.”
Kalkbrenner said emergency crews made 14 water rescues, but no one here was seriously injured.
After more than three inches of rain, washes and roadways flooded around the Valley. But Phoenix’s Water Services Director Kathryn Sorensen said the city’s drinking water wasn’t contaminated.
“As you can imagine, we did experience some very significant infiltration into the sewer system," Sorensen said. "Right now, our plants are holding and we are cautiously optimistic that they will continue to do so. If there needs to be any notification we will get that out.”
In Scottsdale, the 11-mile Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt had nearly five feet of water rushing through it today. Police cordoned the area off to keep out anyone attempting to cross. Eastbound Interstate 10 is still closed between 51st and 35th Avenues due to flooding.
A flash flood warning was issued for most of the Phoenix area and its outskirts through late Monday morning because of heavy thunderstorms and showers. Flash flood watches covered most of the rest of Arizona.
A flash flood warning was also issued for the Tucson area through 2:45 p.m.
One woman has died after the car she was driving was swept away by heavy floods in Tucson. Tucson Fire Department spokesman Barrett Baker says rescue units responded to a residential neighborhood near 22nd Street and Kolb Road around 9:30 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, the car was submerged in the water and could not be reached.
The car was then swept away and traveled about two blocks before it became trapped against a bridge in a wash that had flooded over onto a major street.
The water was about 10 to 15 feet high, Baker said.
Firefighters have retrieved the woman's body but have not been able to pull the car out of the wash.
Heavy rains continue in Phoenix and Tucson, flooding numerous streets and leaving several drivers stranded.
Several dozen cars and SUVs are being towed from Interstate 10 in west Phoenix where the vehicles were stranded by several feet of water that closed part of the freeway Monday morning.
State Department of Public Safety Officer Bill Westsik said once the cars are towed, sweepers will clear off the mud and muck. He said officials hope the freeway will be reopened by early afternoon.
The water receded by late morning once Arizona Department of Transportation workers cleaned out clogged drains.
Sections of the major freeways Interstate 10 and 17 in west Phoenix were closed during the morning commute, and a state Department of Public Safety officer used the roof of his SUV to carry three stranded motorists out of a flooded area of I-10.
"It's dangerous to get tow trucks out there," DPS spokesman Bart Graves said.
The National Weather Service reported 3.29 inches of rain at Sky Harbor airport at about 10 a.m., breaking the old record of 2.91 inches set in 1939. The morning rainfall also eclipsed Phoenix's average total rainfall of 2.71 inches for Phoenix's entire summer rainy season.
The Arizona Department of Transportation is reporting that I-10 West has reopened west of the Stack and the right lane remains closed at 43rd Avenue. I-10 eastbound lanes are still closed, but are expected to open by early evening, according to the Arizona transportation department.
On Interstate 10 on both sides of the 43rd Avenue overpass in west Phoenix, television video of I-10 showed at least a half-dozen vehicles sitting in water up to their hoods, while dozens of other motorists parked part way up on the freeway's side embankment to stay clear of the water.
That stretch of freeway was one of several that resembled small lakes as the Arizona Department of Transportation said its pumping stations couldn't keep up with the downfall.
DPS officers initially closed all lanes of I-10 except for one in each direction at 43rd Avenue, but ultimately had to completely shut down the freeway, Graves said.
"It was pitch-black and the storm system was moving in pretty heavily," the spokesman said.
The motorists who parked on the embankments "were lucky," Graves said. "They were safe in doing so."
Part of a grocery store's roof collapsed in Tempe because of the rain, but none of the people inside was injured, police Lt. Mike Pooley said.
Numerous street closures were reported in cities across the metro area, and the Phoenix Fire Department was performing several water rescues. In Scottsdale, 25 firefighters helped free a man trapped in his car by three feet of running water. There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton declared a state of emergency in the city of Phoenix because the excessive rain and flooding in the area. He and other city officials addressed the media from the city’s Emergency Operations Center near Lower Buckeye Road and 24th Avenue.
Stanton said City Hall is essentially operating out of this building. He was joined by police and fire, streets and the Red Cross. There have been 14 water rescues reported in the Phoenix metro area and no injuries or fatalities.
The Maricopa County Flood Control District said its staff is out checking all of its structures and dams. They appear to be operating normally. The Red Cross said they have two shelters set up at Betty Fairfax High School in south Phoenix and at Copper Canyon High School in Glendale. Stanton encouraged residents that if they need sandbags they should go get them because more rain may be on the way.
Scattered electricity outages are reported in the metro area with over 10,000 customers losing power.
Numerous school systems and colleges either closed schools, delayed openings or advised parents that buses were running late.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer declared a statewide emergency because of flooding from major storms that dropped heavy rain and she's also telling non-essential state employees to stay home Monday.
The governor's announcement of her emergency declaration doesn't spell out what areas are covered by the emergency declaration.
However, spokesman Andrew Wilder says the declaration activates the state's emergency response and recovery plan and that provides a mechanism for coordinating emergency responses by various levels of government.
Wilder also said the governor's main concern regarding at least initially is that people remain safe.
For families displaced by flooding, there is an American Red Cross shelter at Copper Canyon High School, 9126 W. Camelback, in Glendale and another shelter at Betty Fairfax High School, 8225 S. 59th Ave., in Laveen. For more information, call 1-800-842-7349 or go to www.azein.gov/emergency-information/emergency-bulletin/red-cross-open-shelter-glendale.
Sandbags are available at Valley fire departments. Check the links for a location near you.
Chandler: http://www.chandleraz.gov/newsrelease.aspx?N_UID=2874
Mesa: http://www.mesaaz.gov/emergency/sandbags.aspx
Scottsdale: http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Streets/SandBags.asp
Phoenix: https://www.phoenix.gov/firesite/Documents/074832.pdf#search=sandbags
ADOT traffic, accident and road closure information can be found at http://www.az511.gov/adot/files/.
Updated 9/8/2014 at 4:51 p.m.
The Associated Press and KJZZ's Nick Blumberg, Stina Sieg, Kendra Szabo, Andrew Bernier, Steve Shadley, Sarah Ventre and Maria Springs contributed to this report.