Storms across Tucson leave people soaked, stranded

The soggy weather allowed Tucson to tie a record with the eighth straight day of measurable rain at the Tucson airport, according to the National Weather Service. The record, last set in 1972, could be broken Wednesday.

The summer storms closed major roads, stranding motorists in high water and forcing the evacuation of two Vail schools because of flooded streets and a sinkhole. It kept temperatures mild with area highs in the 80s.

Tucson firefighters and police aided about 25 motorists on South Houghton Road near Interstate 10 when the rain caused travelers to stop along the road because of running water, said Capt. Barrett Baker, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.

“We closed down Houghton near Interstate 10 until Tucson police arrived,” said Baker about the incident that began at 10 a.m. “We escorted motorists out of the area using a couple of fire trucks,” Baker said.

Meanwhile, Corona de Tucson Fire District crews were working on the southern end of Houghton near Sahuarita Road where they caravanned about 40 motorists to safety, said fire Capt. Todd Cupell. That area got the brunt of the storms.

Firefighters first performed a “swift water rescue, and plucked one person out of their vehicle. We got an engine close enough and got them out and into the truck and drove them out,” said Cupell.

The firefighters then began working to get vehicles that were stopped on Houghton in water turned around and out of the area, Cupell said.

At about midday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department ordered the Vail School District to evacuate students at Pantano and Andrada Polytechnic high schools as a preventative measure.

Vail schools reported on social media there was a sinkhole near Andrada on South Houghton Road and flooding in the area.

“We do not want students to get stuck at school,” the Facebook post said.

Evacuated students were taken by bus to Cienega High School, where they were picked up by parents.

Earlier in the morning, Pima County sheriff’s deputies and Drexel Heights Fire District responded to a swift-water rescue at West Snyder Hill and South San Joaquin roads.

“A mother and her young son were in an SUV and got stranded in a wash. She called 911, and stayed in the vehicle, which was the right thing to do,” said Tracy Koslowski, a fire district spokeswoman. She said the water reached halfway up the vehicle.

As firefighters were gearing up, a Pima County waste management truck came by and a worker said he had a large dump truck nearby and could do the rescue. The dump truck was used to drive to the mother and child, and the two were brought to safety, said Koslowski.

Numerous roads were closed at various points during the day, including Houghton south of I-10, South Harrison Road at the Pantano Wash, and North Silverbell Road between West El Camino del Cerro and Ina Road. East Sahuarita Road was also closed for a time at South Kolb Road near Corona de Tucson.

The Pima County Department of Transportation listed about two-dozen road closures as of Tuesday evening.

The east and southeast sides saw the heaviest rain, with totals in some of the mountains to the east nearing 2 inches of rain over 24 hours, according to gauges with the Pima County Regional Flood Control District.

Also, Davidson Canyon southeast of Tucson received 2.5 inches of rain as of 5 p.m., gauges show. Corona de Tucson received nearly 2 inches of rain.

The Manning Camp in the Rincon Mountains had 1.93 inches of rain, and areas in the Santa Catalina Mountains showed totals upward of nearly 2 inches in some places.

In Tucson, heavy rain was recorded at East Irvington Road and Pantano Road, with .80 of an inch shown on gauges, while .60 of an inch of rain was recorded at the Pantano Wash and South Houghton Road.

The Tucson International Airport recorded .08 of an inch of rain as of 5 p.m.

On Wednesday, Aug. 3, more rain is expected in metropolitan Tucson and the surrounding areas, but it may not be as widespread as Tuesday, according to the national weather service. The Tucson area is expected to gradually dry out beginning Thursday through the weekend.