Dramatic Rescues In Arizona Floods

Storms dumped up to four inches of rain across southern Arizona, flooding washes and waterways and forcing evacuations of some 46 people in the Tucson area, including a mother and two children rescued by a helicopter.

Tony Garcia, one of the many flood victims, says the flooding is by far the worst he has ever seen.

Several flights were delayed Tuesday and one was canceled from Tucson International Airport, and the rains forced closure of five roads in Tucson and more than two dozen in Pima County.

The severity of the storm, on the heels of another Aug. 14, caused Pima County Supervisors' chairwoman Sharon Bronson to declare a state of emergency. Doing so enables the county to seek aid from the state for infrastructure losses, already near $500,000 from the earlier storm.

Authorities used a Blackhawk helicopter to reach one woman and her children stranded by floodwaters on the porch of a mobile home southwest of Tucson's city limits, Rural Metro spokesman Rick Flores said.

The helicopter was able to hover just above ground, where technicians climbed out to help put the woman and her children aboard the aircraft, he said. The chopper also was used to look for residents stranded on porches or rooftops.

One of the children rescued Tuesday is a teenager with cerebral palsy who normally relies on a feeding machine - which could not be used because his trailer lost power as floodwaters began to fill the home.

Firefighters carried him out, and across the water, to a waiting ambulance.

Rain in Tucson swept a man from his pickup into the Santa Cruz River after he drove into a flooded area and his truck was carried to a culvert grate. Firefighters formed a human chain to reach him on a sandbar.

Minutes after the rescue, the water level rose several feet and completely submerged his car.

The Franco Wash southwest of Tucson overflowed its banks and began flooding a number of mobile home parks in the area during early morning hours.

The force of the water - flowing between 3 and 5 feet deep and moving at between 10 and 20 mph - knocked about seven mobile homes off their foundations, and the homes began to float downstream.

Nearly 40 mobile homes had to be evacuated.