Tucson crews brought drivers and a hiker out of Sunday floodwater
Pima County deputies handled 16 river rescues without injury. Tucson firefighters took seven water calls, and a state helicopter lifted a stranded hiker and the rescuers with him out of Bear Canyon.
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Heavy rain on Sunday pushed floodwater through Tucson and the rest of Pima County, and rescue crews spent the day getting people out of it, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The Pima County Sheriff's Department said that by 3 p.m. it had answered 16 river rescues, after drivers tried to cross flooded roads and washes and got stuck. A department spokeswoman said every one of those people was rescued without injury.
Twelve of the water rescues were in the greater Tucson area. The Tucson Fire Department said its own crews handled seven of them, including calls at South Yale Drive and East Fordham Drive, at Calle Marte and Avenida Planeta, and at the Alamo Wash along South Birch Avenue. The department said no injuries were reported on those calls.
Earlier that day, the sheriff's department said an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter lifted a stranded hiker, and the rescue workers who were with him, out of Bear Canyon. Creeks there were running fast, as they were in nearby Sabino Canyon.
Heroes in ArizonaTucson, ArizonaFirefightersPoliceFirst respondersSearch and rescueGood news on November 4
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