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Heavy Rain Creates Flooding In Apache Junction

Overflowing washes, dangerous flooding and car accidents kept fire crews in Apache Junction busy Thursday morning. Nearly two inches of rain fell, remnants of Hurricane Simon.

The heavy rains led to flooding and road closures in some parts. Garin Groff with Arizona’s Department of Transportation said the U.S. 60 at Meridian experienced minor flooding from an overflowing wash, but it was nothing like what happened on Interstate 10 last month.

"No vehicles were stuck," Groff said. "Traffic was stopped for a little when the water got high, but traffic then was allowed to resume again."

Groff said ADOT crews were on the scene removing debris. Both east and west-bound lanes are open again.

Jeff Cranmer is the battalion chief at Superstition Fire and Medical District in Apache Junction. He said his crews pulled one driver from a van that stalled in rising water. Later, they rescued three children playing in a wash.

"They actually got swept down several hundred yards from where they had started at Tomahawk and Southern, and one of our crews had to go in and just get them and get them to the side and get their parents involved," Cranmer said.

Cranmer said during the heaviest rain fall they received about 40 calls in one hour.

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.