MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. — The monsoon season brings heavy torrential rain throughout Arizona and with it comes flooding over washes and creeks.
When sudden floods happen in the afternoon and evening hours, more people have risked going through the water if they are going home, said Mohave County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Les Tarkowski.
“That’s when we see most of our swift water rescues, right around that dinner time,” he said. “It’s a pattern that we see.”
Throughout the year, the department's search and rescue team averages 120 rescue missions a year, Tarkowski said.
Tarkowski is the agency’s search coordinator. He said 20 of that yearly number are water rescues.
“They typically happen… when people are trying to get home,” he said. “They’ve worked all day, got groceries, and they just want to get home. That’s usually when they take more risk and drive through that wash versus in the morning.”
According to the National Weather Service, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm-related hazard. Over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into flood water, the department said.
45 long minutes
On Monday around 5 p.m. deputies rescued a 42-year-old woman trapped in the middle of flood waters in Golden Valley.
A picture taken by the department, showed the woman holding onto a street sign in waist-high water.
“She was driving home, and she went into the wash and got washed away,” Tarkowski said.
A construction crew, on their way home, came across a car in the middle of the water and then saw the woman in distress.
But because the water was too strong the search and rescue team advised them to wait until the water receded.
“Once it [got] to a certain level, then they could walk up and grab her,” Tarkowski said.
With the help of the men that had initially called in the report, deputies used ropes to secure the woman and help her escape.
The unidentified woman held onto the sign for about 45 minutes before she could be rescued, according to the department.
“She was clinging on to dear life at that point,” Tarkowski added.
She was not injured but Tarkowski said these types of rescues are one of the most dangerous things they do.
“Don’t drive into the wash, I mean, your car does not float,” he said. “Just be safe and turn around.”
The department said six inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult, and 12 inches of rushing water can carry away most cars.
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