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Sunnyslope residents make the best of the storm

Alexis Egeland, The Republic | azcentral.com 3:27 p.m. MST August 5, 2016

As streets in Sunnyslope were blocked off by police for water rescues, many in the community came out to enjoy the storm.

The rushing floodwaters didn’t seem to faze the locals, who went out to gaze at the water and splash in it rather than run from it.

“Ain’t nothing like a storm in Sunnyslope,” resident Tammi Potter said.

Tammi and her daughter, Teri, were out trekking through the rushing water.

"We live up on the hill, so all the water just rushes down from our house," Tammi said. "We have to come down here to enjoy the storm."

Most of the Sunnyslope-area flooding occurred on 10th Street between Hatcher Road and Townley Avenue. Two cars got stuck in the water on this strip of 10th Street on Friday morning, requiring the police to block off the streets until the water cleared up and the vehicles could be towed.

Phoenix police officer Paul Burson said water rescues can typically be avoided if drivers heed simple precautions.

The Scottsdale Fire Department, which dealt with water rescues of its own Friday, advised that 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock down an adult. It takes 12 inches of rushing water to carry away a small car, while 2 feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles.

"Just use common sense and don't try to go around the barricades," Burson said. "If it looks too deep, it probably is. It doesn't take very much water to take out a car."

The intersection of 10th Street and Townley Avenue became like a river, with water flooding into an empty basin on the south side of the intersection.

"I've lived here 16 years and I've never seen it this full, resident Barbara Deering said. "It's great because this is what it's here for and we need the water, but I've never seen it flood like this."

Deering said the storm basin was 15 to 20 feet deep, and it was full of rainwater by noon Friday.