AVONDALE, AZ — Two people had to be rescued after getting stuck in floodwaters in Avondale late Thursday night.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. near El Mirage and Indian Springs roads, near Phoenix Raceway.
Maricopa County Sheriff's officials at the scene told ABC15 that two people had to be rescued after driving past road closure barricades in a recreational vehicle. Officials said the vehicle was swept downstream when the driver tried to cross the Gila River on El Mirage Road.
Fire departments were unable to successfully rescue the vehicle's occupants, so aerial units were called in to get the job done.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
There are several areas of road closures throughout the Valley due to floodwaters from an upstream dam release, and Flood Warnings remain in effect for multiple areas.
According to SRP, a recent snow survey determined the snowpack is the deepest it has been in 30 years, and reservoirs were nearly 100% full. SRP has been releasing water slowly since March 2, but more recently increased the release to about 120,000 gallons per second.
Officials remind drivers and residents not to cross flooded waters and to not ignore road closure signs.
In this case, MCSO says, "In order for the... subjects to have accessed the point where they were found stuck, they would have had to proceed around all marked road closures and proceeded along El Mirage Rd. into the flooded wash before getting stuck."
MCSO said the driver of the vehicle was criminally cited and released for reckless driving in connection to emergency response in a flood area.
