Car trapped in wash near 22nd and Wilmot

A man was safely rescued after his car became trapped in a wash near Palo Verde High School, close to 22nd Street and Wilmot Road, as storm runoff moved through Tucson. Video from the scene showed the vehicle sitting in the middle of the wash while water rushed around it. Tucson Fire officials confirmed that the person inside was removed safely, but the incident underscored the danger of driving through flooded crossings and low water areas during monsoon storms.

The rescue was part of a wider pattern of dangerous flooding across southern Arizona during a powerful storm that moved through the region on a Monday. The National Weather Service in Tucson reported at least three swift water rescues along the Alamo Wash. Other rescues were reported near 22nd Street and Kolb Road, near Grant Road and Craycroft Road behind Tucson Medical Center, and near Fifth Street and Wilmot Road. In the 22nd and Kolb area, a vehicle was found stuck in a flooded dip in the road after everyone inside had gotten out.

The incidents show how quickly ordinary Tucson streets and crossings can become hazardous when heavy rain funnels into the city’s washes. The Alamo Wash, which runs through developed parts of east and central Tucson, carried enough water during the storm to trap vehicles and prompt multiple emergency responses. The National Weather Service also reported a swift water rescue in the Brawley Wash near Manville and Reservation Road in the Picture Rocks area, extending the storm’s effects well beyond the city’s central neighborhoods.

The danger does not require a vehicle to be completely submerged. Tucson first responders warned that about six inches of moving water can knock an adult off their feet. Between 12 and 18 inches of flowing water can lift and carry away a full sized car or sport utility vehicle. For people driving near washes, a crossing that appears passable can become unsafe in moments, particularly when water is moving across a low water crossing or a dip in the road.

The storm also caused widespread disruptions for people across the Tucson area. More than 9,000 Tucson Electric Power customers were without electricity as of 7 p.m. during the storm. TEP said many of the outages were connected to equipment damage, including a downed power pole and tree near Prudence Road and Broadway Boulevard. By 10 a.m. the following update, the number of customers without power had fallen to 33. Customers could check their individual outage status through TEP’s outage information page.

Flooding and storm damage were reported in several other parts of the region. A tree was knocked down at Udall Park near Tanque Verde Road and Kolb Road. Floodwater also turned Ina Road into what was described as a flowing river in the Three Points area. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department reported road closures during the evening, reflecting the broader transportation problems created by flooding, debris and damaged infrastructure.

The storm produced dramatic weather as well as dangerous conditions. A rainbow was photographed outside the 13 News station after the storm passed, offering a brief visual contrast to the rescues, outages and damage reported across the area. For Tucson residents, however, the most important takeaway remained practical: flooded roads and washes should not be treated as ordinary road hazards. Even when water levels appear limited, moving water can exert enough force to sweep away a person or vehicle.

The immediate rescue near 22nd and Wilmot ended without reported injury to the man inside the car, but the conditions around the vehicle illustrated why emergency officials repeatedly caution drivers to avoid water covered roads. The storm also prompted multiple responses in and around the Alamo Wash, along with another rescue in the Brawley Wash. Together, the incidents showed that the risk was spread across Tucson and nearby communities rather than confined to one intersection.

A dry warming trend was expected to begin after the storm and continue into the weekend. Even as conditions improved, the flooding reports served as a reminder that washes can remain dangerous after rain has stopped, since runoff may continue moving downstream from storms elsewhere in the watershed. Residents encountering water over a road or crossing should turn around rather than attempt to drive through it, particularly in areas near the city’s many washes and low lying roadways.