APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. – Police in Arizona released a 911 call and bodycam video showing the rescue of a man who was trapped in his vehicle when it was surrounded by raging floodwaters Monday.
The Apache Junction Police Department said a man called 911 about 8:30 p.m. asking for help after he mistakenly drove into floodwaters near 4th Avenue and Tomahawk Road.
“I’m stuck in Apache Junction,” he told the 911 dispatcher. “I’m stuck like, in a flooded area, and I didn’t see the water coming in 10 minutes ago. But it’s coming up to the windshield.”
He was alone in the car and calmly provided the dispatcher with his location.
“By the time I saw the water, it was too late,” he continued. “I was already in the water.”
Emergency crews raced to the scene, and the video cuts to members of the Apache Junction Police Department working together to help the man and bring him to safety.
The video shows officers instructing the man to grab onto a rope and to “hold on tight” due to the power of the rushing water.
After securing the rope, the officer then walked through the water and approached the vehicle.
“Listen to me,” the officer urged. “You’re going to go into some deep water, and it’s going to be quickly moving. OK? I’m going to hold onto you, but I need you to hold onto me. OK? We’re going to get through this together.”
Once the man was out of the vehicle and police had a good grip on him, a plan was devised to get him back to dry ground.
The man was evaluated by EMS crews and was not injured.
The vehicle was later recovered and towed back to the driver’s home once water levels subsided.
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Arizona and the Southwest have been experiencing flooding for the past several days as rain and thunderstorms surged into the region.
A man and child needed to be rescued from the roof of their vehicle in Eloy after police said he drove around a barricade and became trapped in fast-moving floodwaters.
According to the National Weather Service office in Phoenix, powerful storms moved through the area Sunday, producing wind gusts higher than 60 mph, hail and torrential rain.
In addition, a damaging microburst was reported in Tempe, displacing “well over” 130 people and plunging tens of thousands of people into darkness.
