Tim Steller’s column: Tucson’s Halloween flood produced stories, not tragedies

Tucson residents spent Sunday navigating flooded washes, blocked roads and rapidly rising rivers as a three-day storm system swept across Southern Arizona. Seven swift-water rescues were carried out by the Tucson Fire Department, roads and bridges were closed, and an emergency flood warning reached cellphones across the area. Yet unlike the catastrophic floods Tucson experienced in 1983 and 1993, the latest deluge left the local community with close calls, unusual rescues and memorable stories rather than reported deaths.

The rain began with a powerful thunderstorm early Friday, continued through a wet Halloween night and reached its most intense point Sunday, when heavy rain and strong winds moved through Tucson and Pima County. A lighter round of rain followed early Monday. Tucson set a rainfall record for the first two days of November, surpassing every comparable two-day period since local weather records began in 1894. The unusually wet conditions were partly linked to a strong El Niño, a warming pattern in the equatorial Pacific that forecasters expect could become the strongest ever measured.

The storm quickly overwhelmed washes around the city. Near East Lee Street, Joy Adams saw the Alamo Wash running dangerously high while traveling to her mother’s home in midtown. She noticed that the usual warnings telling drivers not to enter the crossing were missing. Adams tried to create a makeshift warning by lining up empty beer cans near the wash, although she knew the barrier was inadequate and covered only one side. When she returned about an hour later, a BMW had become trapped in the rushing water.

Bystanders gathered near the vehicle and communicated with the driver, urging her to remain inside and not attempt to cross the wash. They told her they had contacted the fire department and stayed nearby until help arrived. One person said warning signs had been posted but were carried away by the water. The incident became one of seven rescues performed by Tucson firefighters that day. In another Alamo Wash rescue, a Postal Service driver was trapped with water reaching the door handle of the vehicle.

Adams said she understood how drivers could make the dangerous decision to enter a flowing wash because she had done it herself in the past. She now sees the risk differently. The flooding also brought a sharp reminder from Sabino Canyon, where water reportedly rose between 4 and 6 feet in about 15 minutes. The Coronado National Forest shared video of the surge as heavy rain struck the canyon and surrounding communities, illustrating how quickly normally manageable channels can become hazardous.

The storm created a different kind of problem at Pima Animal Care Center on Tucson’s West Side. Shelle Jackson, who is also known as a Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman, had gone there to leave a dog she found, described as a friendly boxer. After she drove away, she discovered that flooding had cut off the available routes. Silverbell Road was closed north of the center, a FedEx truck was stuck in a fast-moving wash, and the wash to the south was also running too strongly to cross. Jackson and other stranded motorists remained at the animal shelter for roughly two and a half hours, where she spent the time with the dogs.

The water also tempted some people into an ill-advised adventure. Overton Road was closed because of flooding, but the rushing water attracted spectators. Farther northwest, in the Santa Cruz River near Cortaro Farms Road, Northwest Fire was called after someone reported that kayakers were in trouble. Responders instead found two young women in a small inflatable raft. They told firefighters they had wanted to float down the river.

The river was flowing from bank to bank, but the raft had lodged near branches close to the bridge. The debris formed a relatively calm eddy, leaving the women in a safer position than they might otherwise have occupied. Firefighters used a ladder truck positioned on the bridge, extending the ladder toward the raft. A firefighter reached the end with a rescue ring and life vest, and the two women were lifted to safety one at a time. The rescue was successful, but the circumstances underscored how quickly recreational curiosity can become an emergency in a desert river during a storm.

The rain produced serious danger outside Tucson as well. In northern Arizona, flooding caused widespread damage and two deaths, while evacuations and other emergency responses were reported in several communities. In Southern Arizona, however, the storm’s local legacy was shaped more by narrow escapes. John Stark, a Tucson resident camping alone at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, endured strong rain and wind that repeatedly disturbed his tent. He said the gusts were so intense that the saguaros seemed to make noise. After struggling through the night and packing up in the rain, Stark encountered a fallen saguaro blocking the road and drove his Subaru Crosstrek over it to leave. He eventually made it home through the storm, adding one more tale to a weekend when Tucson’s floodwaters offered plenty of drama without the tragedies of the past.