Video Vault: massive monsoon storm floods Phoenix metro (9-8-2014)

Intro We've got footage coming in from across the valley, showing the heavy rain showers, lightning, and all the flooding. Check out this mess in central Phoenix. Flash flood warnings are in effect across Arizona this morning due to heavy rain It is just one area where the rain is playing out. In fact, it's pretty much everywhere in our viewing area in the valley. And drivers are being smart so far. If you see standing water and current, don't drown. Turn around. Our emergency crews are busy today, and they don't need your help. By being a stupid motorist, ignoring flooding signs to try to get through these dangerous conditions. Already this morning, the water's backing up on the roadways. Look at the freeways from our ADOT cameras. It's just a mess out there. Be careful. Give yourself extra time this morning. We have team coverage of this monsoon this morning, tracking the storms from across the valley. Not going to go away anytime soon. So if you're just waking up this morning, you're wondering when should I go to work? Should I go to work in school? We'll just know this is going to continue on because we're going to continue to see these thunderstorms throughout this morning. Things will lighten up a bit mid morning, but we could see more thunderstorms as we head through the afternoon. So here's a broader picture. I wanted to show you how much rain, how widespread it is. We're going to be talking about how widespread this is. The reason is because we still are in the monsoon season, but we're also seeing that tropical moisture. We've been talking about hurricanes and tropical storms well to the south of us, pulling up all that moisture. So anywhere in Maricopa County, in fact, the central part of Maricopa County. That's where we are under a flash flood warning. Currently you're going to see a whole lot of rain and a fast in a very short amount of time. All right. Live five Doppler radar. We can zoom in and show you we are talking about heavy downpours, lightning strikes, the whole ball of wax. We have numerous roads that are closed. You're going to have a real issue getting to work this morning because if you can get onto your roadway, it's going to be slow going. You have It's pretty dangerous out there. Buckeye, you can see thunderstorms. Very strong cells moving over Buckeye. The yellow and the red, that is a heavy downpour. You head on over into the city. I mean, look at this. We're seeing one thunderstorm after another. We haven't seen this in a long time. So I know you probably are just waking up across the East Valley, and I know it's been happening for the last couple of hours. But Mesa, Guadalupe, man, you just got pounded with rain showers, numerous lightning strikes, If you're traveling on the 101 standing water out there, it's very dangerous because those storm cells just quickly moved on through and then headed on up to the north into, uh, and I 17. It's going to continue on. I want to show you where we do have a flash flood warning. This is the central part of Maricopa County on down into Pinal County. And then as you head on up to the north, this is only in effect for the next couple of hours. But look at this, the entire state under We're going to have a flash flood watch. If you're not under a warning, this is going to be through this afternoon because the thunderstorms are not going anywhere anytime soon and flooding not only in the washes and the places where we usually usually do see the flooding. But in urban areas As you plan your day, it is really bad out there right now for a whole lot of rain. It's only 73 degrees. It's going to continue on, but we will start to lighten up a bit by seven o'clock. You know, our flash flood warning is in effect until 6 30 by seven o'clock. We're going to start to see a little bit more isolated, but still. Still a lot of folks dealing with that rain 88 degrees as we head through lunchtime and then warming up to only 91. But guess what? We have more thunderstorms on the way. It won't be until tonight that we're going to start to see this taper off. And then we do still have a possibility to see more of this continue on humidity at 94%. Look at this widespread rain. Everyone dealing with that rain. This It's just kind of stalled out over the Phoenix area and then moving on up to the North Flagstaff. You're going to get a whole lot of rain in a short amount of time also, and then here's our water vapor map. You can see all that rain moving on through. All right, I do want to show you our seven day forecast quickly, although you're probably only concerned with this morning. But things will start to lighten up as we head through tonight. And then as we head through tomorrow, things are going to look a little bit better. Still a slight chance for some thunderstorms and then drying out more so on Wednesday and Thursday. Pat and Nicole? Okay, thank you very much, Katie. In fact, we're going to keep checking back with Katie all morning, but right now we want to give you an idea of what's exactly happening outside our doors. Yeah, let's check in live with Christina Estes covering the storms for us here at 24. 23rd Avenue and Indian School. It's a mess out there. Phoenix intersection flooded with water; several cars stalled trying to get through Whoa. It is a mess out here. And the reason we're here at 23rd Avenue Indian School. Is you can see take a look behind me. I refuse to go through here. I'd gone through way too much water trying to get to work this morning. I said, I'm not risking this. Unfortunately plenty of other It's been a couple of people get stuck eventually make it through, but it has just been a crazy. Last hour here at 23rd Avenue Indian School. This entire intersection is flooded. It's not stopping these cars again. I'm shocked at some of the scenes I've seen in the last 60 to 90 minutes here. Some cars have just flown through here. Others are being very slow and methodical trying I've seen a couple of them that have stalled. They've eventually made it out, but it is really dangerous, and I really hate to see this because, like I said, I didn't want to risk it myself, and I've watched this, and I've been cringing because I think someone's going to get into a crash, someone's going to stall, get hit. We're hoping that doesn't happen. Please don't do this. I know we say this every time it rains, but this is bad, guys, and it's everywhere like this. Photographer Craig Stern was having a tough time meeting me here. He was coming in from the West Coast. Valley. It's a mess everywhere. Please, please, please be careful. We are very fortunate to be here under the balcony here at the a. m. p. m. at 23rd Avenue Indian school, but you can see it's like an ocean because there are waves of water that have just come in. We're right here by the gas tanks here where you pump your gas, and this is how far the water is pushed in, and it's It's not stopping in the last few minutes. It's just continued, so we'll stay out here. Hopefully, we won't be showing you anything too bad, but we wanted to give you an idea of just how bad this intersection is, and again, I was traveling through central Phoenix trying to get to the station this morning, and this is not the only place. It's like this throughout Phoenix. I talked with some people who were also camped out here this morning, somebody coming from East Phoenix. Phoenix told me it was a mess. He was around University 24th Street. He said it was a mess. Somebody coming from the Tempe area as well. So please, please, please take it easy out there this morning. Reporting live from Phoenix, Christina Estes, CBS five News. Flooding causing problems for Phoenix commuters That's the most important point, Christina, because, uh, first of all, there will be a delayed reaction with a lot of the rain. They're coming up. It's coming up the hills, too. So this flooding event is going to last throughout the area for a very long time, and it is valley wide. Yeah, and she talked about people already having a tough We're going to talk a little bit more about the weather coming up in just a few minutes, but first, let's talk about the weather. We've been having a rough time with these early morning overnight commutes, and our director John is caught in traffic. Our traffic anchor Chelsea Davis is caught in the weather. And oh, Katie, look at that. Oh, this is so dangerous. You want to try to avoid this. You don't know how fast this water is running. You also don't know how deep it is. You know, I hit some water on the way coming in. I didn't even see it because it's dark out there. So you have that working against you also this morning. And it. I wasn't going that fast, but it felt like you hit a wall. So you just want to be careful because water is extremely powerful. You're not going to breeze past this, but people going just crawling along. And you can see the water is rising quickly, causing some flooding out on the roadways. If you can call in late. I would do so for this morning because it is just going to be a really rough commute. And as the hours move on, we're going to tack on some accidents and that's also going to cause wreak some havoc out there. We do have I 10 and 43rd Avenue also, I believe. Well, we'll show that in just a minute. But here we have I 10. a wide view of everything that's happening, and the yellow is disabled vehicle. So right now, 101 is looking open where you're seeing a whole lot of trouble. I 10. If you're traveling east or west, that's where you're going to get into a big mess. And then it is slowing on the I 17. We are seeing a lot in the way of activities. I want to zoom in and show you this right here. If you're traveling across the East Valley. Okay, we have a breakdown U. S 60. This is a disabled vehicle. The shoulder is blocked. On 50 West 60 westbound at Priest Drive. This is near exit 172 and then also we have another another. Oh here we go we also have some other problems. All right these drag times are okay. But you know what these are going to change big time. We're looking at. 17 minutes right now. 83rd Avenue to the stack. 14 minutes of Bell Road to the stack. We'll toss it back to you guys. But I do want to come back in just a short while to show you this radar. It continues to change. Okay. Thank you, Katie. And actually, we're going to check in with Chelsea Davis, who's on the phone with us right now. Stuck in this traffic. Where are you? Hey, Good morning, guys. I know how funny and ironic the traffic anchor gets stuck in traffic. Well, anyway, I was heading from the west side of the valley going, uh, Yeah, In, uh, using Grand Avenue to get into downtown Phoenix, and it is an ocean. So if that is something that you take for the morning commute, do not take it. We had to turn around several times. You would approach an intersection to see brake lights and then reverse lights, and there are a ton of crews that are out and they're making people turn around. We've seen several disabled and broken down cars, so I was having a lot of trouble. It, Glendale was a, a main road for you as you're making your way into downtown Phoenix. That is also completely covered. It's like a pool. And Katie mentioned, sometimes you don't see it. It's dark out there and you just all of a sudden hit a wall of water. So now I'm actually over by the station. But if I 17 is also part of your commute and you're going southbound on it, now Camelback and Indian School are going to be slow moving, as Christina mentioned. So I suggest using the frontage roads because those are still open and they're less, uh, there's a little bit of flooding. I mean, it's nothing compared to the oceans and other spots that you'll see. The frontage roads are going to be your best friends. Otherwise, out there, just the main streets, it's, it's a lot of puddles. So give yourself extra time and really re evaluate different options that you can use to get where you need to go. Because I had to use I have probably five different routes to get here, and it normally takes me about 20 minutes, and it's taking me an hour. Okay, Thanks, Chelsea. We have closures the state route 51 in Cactus I 10 and 43rd Avenue and Dobbins 15 to 27th Avenue, 40th Street Baseline South Point 48th Street. I mean, I 10 83rd Avenue to 27th Avenue. The underpasses are all flooded. This is a serious problem, and they're even seeing problems up in Peoria as well. We're going to take a quick break, but send us your pictures and video and call us if you are stuck and seeing some rough stuff. 602 650 0711. Be safe. We will be right back. Well, good morning. If you are just waking up this morning, you hear the rain pounding on your rooftop. Guess what? That's not going to change anytime soon. You might want to look outside to see if you have flooding in your neighborhood because we are under a flash flood warning until Sunday. 30 this morning, and that is for the central part of Maricopa County. Our life I've Doppler radar. This is not an isolated event. Usually with the monsoon, we see thunderstorms pop up here or there. Everyone dealing with a thunderstorm activity and since 3 30 this morning, we've had anywhere from an inch of rain to two inches of rain. It's dangerous to drive out there. If you can avoid the roadways, This is going to stick around the red color and the orange color. Heavy downpours. As you can see, a lot of thunderstorm activity quickly sliding on up. I 17 numerous lightning strikes. You're going to be dealing with that this morning. Buckeye just getting hammered this morning with rain showers and it continues on. They had one round. Here comes another round. I 10. This is a nightmare right now. Stop and go traffic. People are just So if you are planning on hopping on I 10, I would think again. Also, Avondale picking up a lot of rain in a short amount of time. The green color, that's lighter rain. And then again, the heavy downpours, that's yellow and orange. As you head into Phoenix, just, just about, We're talking about 15 minutes ago, thunderstorms here goes slid on through. Now we're talking about just plain old rain, but we're going to see more of those cells develop and move across Phoenix. So I 17, as you travel on down, as you hit I 10, you're going to be dealing with that. And then I 10 on down to Guadalupe, you're dealing with that also. So this is going to cause more rain. urban flooding on the roadways where it's harder for that rain to seep into the ground. So that's going to stick around also for a long time. Scottsdale getting a whole lot of rain. This started early this morning also, and it's still raining really hard. 101 completely covered with rain. You're going to have standing water out there also widespread on down into Mesa Tempe Cave Creek. Now you're picking up a lot of rain. If you're waking up an anthem, I'm sure you heard this song. We're going to take a look at another thunderstorm cell move on through more is on the way throughout the morning. I 17 You continue to drive on through and if you're heading up north, here comes another round of thunderstorms. This is the same one that moved on through earlier through Phoenix, so flash flood warning in effect until 6 30, but thunderstorms throughout the rest of the day will be right back, and we're going to check your weather again and take a look at your traffic situation. Stay with us. Phoenix freeways seeing severe problems from the west valley into central Phoenix Welcome back. Time now is 4 48. If you're just waking up with us from the storm overnight, man, has this flooded out our valley? Our freeways are seeing serious problems and closures from the West Valley into central Phoenix. And the real problem is South Phoenix and urban flooding on the roads and streets. Yeah, we have Officer James Holmes from the Phoenix Police Department on the phone with us right now and James, I don't know if you can see what we're looking at. We're looking at I 10 where it's basically a lake and this storm is a monster. It inundated our drainage systems in just a matter of minutes. What are you seeing in Phoenix? Where are the trouble spots and what do you want people to know? Well, I'll tell you what, sir. We have got calls coming in from the field, uh, left and right this morning, especially right now. We're concentrating on South Mountain, the Ahwatukee area. Uh, roads like Dobbins 15th to 27th Avenue closed. 40th Street, Broadway to Vineyard is closed. Baseline 24th Street, 48th Street is closed. Uh, we got worried about I 10 all the way inbound up to 27th Avenue. And of course, McDowell and Indian School Road from 91st to 43rd Avenue, we don't have, we're working on closures there, but you know, the truth of this is that all of the surface streets are going to be just as bad as what you're showing on the highway, and we've got to, our drivers, it's going to be a long, slow commute. If it looks like it's going to be flooded, do not enter those flooded roadways. Uh, we're all going to be busy out there trying to keep everyone safe, but we really need folks to pay attention as they try to get in work this morning. Yeah, we're seeing the lightning flash live. This storm isn't letting up, uh, and Katie said the flash flood warning is in effect until 6 30 this morning. So let's talk about, um, the drainage if it's waterlogged right now and it's flooded over these areas. I mean, How long is it going to take possibly until the roadways are clear and free to free to drive again? You know, just based on our experience with this particular monsoon this season, we've had areas that have been shut down actually for 3, 4 and even 5 days because there's still going to be some cleanup. Uh, especially when you get down into the South Mountain Levine area, and so it's going to be a while, and again, we're going to have to be patient, and we're going to have to take our time, probably for the next couple of days at least, because this rain doesn't look like it's going to go away today. James, are drivers mostly in your area being smart, or are you getting a lot of calls for rescues right now? Well, the word I'm getting from the field is that there are several that are out there that are stranded and and of course it's dark now and folks, even though they know most of the commuters in the areas know that the areas flood during rain like this. I don't think there's a lot of folks that know just how bad this is this morning. So what I'm hoping, of course, is that they're watching their morning news. They're listening and they're finding out as they wake up, The areas that are closed and just how bad this overnight rain was. Okay, Officer James Holmes, thanks for your perspective. Stay safe out there. And this one hitting valley wide, we remember in South Phoenix there were some homes that got hit in a one two punch and they, it flooded out an entire subdivision and the governor is asking for help, so, so is, uh, so is our, uh, city mayor. I'm sorry. Greg Stanton. So Katie, let's take a look at your forecast. Okay, let's take a look at that. And our radar showing exactly where it's raining and how hard it's coming down. And you know, Officer Holmes really hit the nail on the head. You just don't know how bad it is out there. If you can stay inside, I would do so. At best, you're going to be sitting in traffic forever trying to get to work and school because we have some with a lot of standing water on the roadways. These are heavy downpours that are taking place across the entire. City Maricopa County under this flash flood warning until 6 30 this morning, so I want to zoom in. Show you where we're seeing the heaviest rain Buckeye getting a whole lot of rain. I 10. That's going to be a nightmare to drive on slow going and then just about 20 minutes ago. Look at these thunderstorms. It'll pop up There it is from Phoenix to Paradise Valley to Mesa on down into Chandler, seeing very strong, heavy thunderstorms causing urban flooding, meaning on the roadways in your backyard in your neighborhood. I 17 nothing but rain also into Scottsdale and Tempe Mesa man. It was coming down earlier and it remains widespread scattered rain, not scattered widespread rain showers right now. If you're traveling up I 17, if you're waking up in Anthem, you're dealing with It is continuing to push to the north. Also, I wanted to show you Fountain Hills. They had a cluster of thunderstorms that moved through just about 20 minutes ago. There it goes. And now lighter rain, but still it's coming down pretty hard. And then we have thunderstorms sliding on up through Prescott and also into Flagstaff. So it is going to continue on. We have that tropical system. And just so you know, this is going to continue on for today and also for this evening. Then it will start It's going to start to calm down as we head into the overnight hours. Maybe I can quickly show you our day planner flash flood warning in effect till 6 30. But the watch is in effect all day long. Here you have it. 91 degrees. That's it. With a chance of thunderstorms even as we head into the afternoon. It's five o'clock straight up and here's a live look from our valley cams. It is a wet start to your work week. Another strong storm with heavy rains moving into the valley early this morning. Now this is a dangerous situation. It came so hard and fast. In fact, uh, when you woke These storms are packing a punch. The streets are flooded. This right here was my house right before I left. And, uh, you know, that doesn't even really all the lights were at the head. The rain was so heavy that it was blocking out the light from the streetlights, and that's just standing still. Wait till you see some of the driving video that we have coming up. Now you need to allow extra time this morning on your way into work because you're going to face situations like this. do this. In fact, quite frankly, if you do, it probably isn't wise to even try to do what these people are doing right there on your video. In fact, if we can drop the banner, you can see it a little bit better. Yeah we are tracking the very latest with team coverage, and we have Katie Baker, our meteorologist in the valley pinpoint, a storm warning, And we are zooming in to show you exactly where these storms are and where they're going. So let's go to our Live 5 Doppler radar to show you the widespread heavy storms already. Since 3. 30 this morning, we've had one to two inches of rain. That's a lot of rain in a very short period of time. And the kicker is, it's not over yet. So if you're just waking up, if you have some flooding in your neighborhood, well, be prepared. This is not just one thunderstorm that's moving on through, and then you're going to dry out. This is a series of thunderstorm activity. Okay, let's zoom in and show you where we are picking up the rain showers. Santan Valley, that's just light rain. Buckeye, we are dealing with a lot of thunderstorm activity. I 7, I 10, if you're traveling on I 10, it's going to be a big nightmare because we've had one storm after another moving on through. And then look at all these thunderstorm cells that move through Phoenix. Here it comes. This is about a half an hour ago. Pushing on up. So I 17, you're going to be dealing with the rain. Paradise Valley just getting pounded by rain. Also Scottsdale Tempe Mesa. This is widespread. It's not just an isolated thunderstorm here and there. A lot of rain in Cave Creek and Anthem picking up about an inch of rain since this started and then those thunderstorms sliding on up Camp Verde picking up those thunderstorms right now. It's pushing into Flagstaff where it is just starting to rain, but more thunderstorm activity on the way. We have our typical monsoon moisture. We're also tapping into the tropical moisture from what was Hurricane Hurricane Norbert. That's off the coast, but it's just sending in all that rain, and that's why we're going to stay wet for so long. Here's a closer view on our satellite radar. So Maricopa County really getting hit the hardest. Usually it's to the south into Casa Grande, even into Tucson, but it is Phoenix that's getting the hardest as far as the rainfall. Flash flood warning in effect until 6 30. So we have about an hour and a half where it's going to be really bad. We're going to see a lot of rain in a short period of time. Things should ease up, but that doesn't mean that we're out of the woods as far as dangerous conditions. We have a flash flood watch in effect through this afternoon. So even as that warning expires for central Maricopa County, pretty much everyone in the Phoenix metro area, we still have that watch in effect through this afternoon. So it's really wet now. A chance of thunderstorms, a chance of It's a good chance throughout the rest of the day. Only 91 degrees out there by noontime. Only 88 degrees still more thunderstorms on the way for Tuesday, then finally drying out for the rest of the week. And now, uh, let's check in with Pat and Nicole. All right. In fact, let's get a little bit more information on exactly what the conditions are at road level. And for that, we're going to turn now to Bart Graves with the Department of Public Safety. And Bart, normally when a monsoon hits, we get slammed in one area, but this one is really valley wide. It's valley wide. That's true. Um, the East Valley from our perspective in terms of the highway is just taking the brunt of it. We have water under Val Vista. The last report was under about this time, U. S. 60 up to the vehicle's hood. So we're advising people to stay clear of that area. And really, as Pat mentioned, if you can delay your commute to work, we strongly advise it. It's just extremely wet and dangerous on the highway system. It's a very bad area. Many flooded areas. As you can see, our officers are taking traffic off the freeway at points. I believe this is. This is U. S 60 at mill. This is a very bad area. And we are in other areas of the valley. We are monitoring traffic so they slow down because that's what people do, and they see how we patrol all of this. So that they're not hydroplaning. Bart Are you seeing a lot of people that are risking it? Are you having to make some rescues this morning? Or people being fairly People are being fairly smart. Um, and that's good news. We're not having to do a lot of rescues. Um, we don't have a whole, um, a lot of, uh, uh, serious injury collisions that we're working right now because people are adjusting their speed for this intensive, uh, rainfall and very wet driving conditions. And you know, we're, we're trying to be where everyone on target for us to be everywhere, obviously, but we're trying to be at key locations where the commute is heavy this time of the morning. Yeah, you were looking at that footage live from the East Valley, but the West Valley is also completely waterlogged. They're dealing with problems. I 10 43rd Avenue all the way to 80. 83rd Avenue to 27th Avenue in the West Valley. The underpasses are flooded there and then I 17 in Greenway. You mentioned water up to car hoods on the 60. We heard scanner traffic of a car trapped with water up to the windows as well. So this is a serious problem. And here's a here's another live look, and you can see cars. Are dealing with water clearly for the wheel well well up into the wheel. Well, where's this location? This is a. This is Guys, can you give us this live location? I think this is another East Valley location. I think this is U. S 60. Okay, Bart. Actually, we're looking at different video from you right now at 43rd Avenue and the U. S N I 10. Okay. 43rd Avenue and I 10, but Bart, sorry to jump away from you for a second. That's a live camera. But what we're looking at is, uh, cars, several sedans that are now, uh, stuck in deep, deep water. And so Bart, one last, uh, uh, bit from you of just telling us what you want these Bart Graves: Stay home if possible because flooding is extremely dangerous drivers to know other than staying home. If they are already out on the roadways, what do you want them to know? Well, I think if you, you, you know, just have to get to work on time this morning, it's probably a good idea to get, to avoid the freeways entirely, right. Uh, surface streets, of course, I can't speak to that. That's for the local PD, but they're probably not in much better shape, but a lot better shape than some of these highways that are, uh, that are flooded or could take a while to, uh, to clear that out. It's extremely dangerous, and it's going to be a very, very slow commute. And Bart, real quickly too, we're seeing lightning flashes with these cars that are just stalled in the water. So is the best advice for people who might be calling home frantic? What am I supposed to do here? You know, call into their loved one who might be watching, um, information on television right now. Do they stay in their vehicles when you're dealing with lightning and standing water? Well, the best what we normally say is to get off the road as quickly as possible. Obviously, these folks tried to do that with little success. It's it's best to call 911. Let us get to you rather than try to do something. Your car is not movable on. I hopefully these people are doing that. And I know we are. We're trying to get the emergency crews along the fire department as fast as we possibly can to these locations. But, uh, we're extremely busy right now, just trying to get traffic through the area. Well, we thank you for taking the time to talk with us this morning. Uh, his message, Bart Graves from DPS. know, it's a great place to stay home. Uh, Turn around if you haven't hit the freeways and just go back home going to work a little bit late. Bart will check back in with you a little bit later. Thank you for being on the ready for us. In fact, but you might want to take a look at your TV now because we're going to go to 43rd Avenue and I Tim where I mentioned this is going to create more work for you. Let's get to our reporter out there in the field. Five cars completely flooded on Interstate 10 and 43rd Avenue Christina who, And I'm going to step out of Christina It didn't look like this just a few seconds ago, but a lot of motorists made the wrong choice. This is unbelievable. I've been here more than 15 years. Never seen anything like this. I'm going to step out of the way. Let photographer Craig Stern show you this. It's like bumper cars. This is crazy. Five sedans right here. These five cars completely flooded. There are even more when you look It's floating for people stuck in their cars as they're floating. Some of them have gotten out on the side of the road. Other cars still trying to make it through. It is a mess. No way around it. I've never seen anything like this. Unbelievable here again. We are at I 10 43rd Avenue. If you think you're going to come this way, please don't don't do it. If you're trying to get to work. Pick up the phone. Call your boss. Tell him or her to turn on CBS. Five news. You got it. cannot see this. You do not want to come near this area. It's a mess. It is dangerous. You don't want to lose your car. Certainly not your life. Christine I gotta ask you. I don't see any flashing lights out there. Are there any emergency crews trying to help those people who are trapped in their cars? Hey, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I lost audio for just a second. I couldn't hear you, but I can hear you now. We're good. Photographer Craig Stern is going to pan to his right, and he's going to show you as he moves to his right. You're going to see the I 10, and you'll see a whole trail of cars, and then you'll see on the left side that there are vehicles there, and they have their red flashing lights, so they're trying to direct people off of the freeway. Christina, what I was trying to ask you I'm not going to speak with anybody directly here. Are there any emergency vehicles that are trying to save some of those people that are trapped in their cars right there in front of you? Right now. There are none right here in our immediate area. We're just off the ramp here, but we don't see any people still standing in see if there's anybody stuck in the cars, and you gotta give us a little slack here because we just pulled up and wanted to show you this as quickly as possible, so I'm gonna head down and check out those cars. See if there's anybody inside. that out. and we'll let you know as soon as we can find out if there's anybody in the cars. Good Christina. Thank you. My goodness. Yes, serious problems. That was I 10 43rd Avenue. We're going to take a quick break and we're tracking this monster storm rolling through the valley right now. Stay home and keep it to CBS five. We'll be right back. US 60 eastbound is closed due to flooding It is now 5 12 and we want to go ahead and get straight out to Kylie Cruz, who is at the U. S. 60. That is shut down right now. Kylie. What can you tell us? days. Well, we're here just on the Hardy overpass above the 60 and right now, the 60 closed We're having some problems with the camera a little bit away there. You can see the 60 closed right now. You can see the cars that are traveling east bound on the 60 and they're being diverted off of the freeway at this time. Right now, a dot saying it is just not safe enough for cars to be traveling on this section of the road. So priest is closed. We're also seeing Mill Avenue closed as well. And you know, the 60 is such a busy Freeway so often, and it is kind of crazy to see this freeway shut down. I mean, it is like a ghost town out here, out here, but Adot saying that, you know, this is what they have to do to keep you safe. Uh, so they are closing right now. Just spoke to a spokesperson. Uh, priest and Mill still will be closed. They're not sure how long that this will take. They said safety is the top priority, and that's what they're concerned about. They need to make sure all the water is off the roadway and it is safe. to drive. So if you are going to be heading out in this, I mean, and you have to use the freeway. Definitely I know we've been been talking about it throughout this entire show, but you're going to probably be a little late to work. You need to be safe. You need to give yourself so much time because even right now, as you're as I'm looking down at priest, you can just see. The line of cars kind of continue to be active. It's Sitting the freeway. So we, um, we're gonna kind of stay here. We'll monitor everything, and of course, we'll bring you the very latest, uh, later on in this newscast reporting live. I'm Kylie Cruz, CBS five News. Alright, Kylie, thank you so much. We're gonna try to help everybody drive smart this morning as we take a look at our maps from the Hastings and Tings Traffic Center. Pat and I were just talking about it. Don't head out right now. It is not safe out there out on the roadways. I tend especially look at this over near 43rd Avenue in either direction. They're completely flooded and I should know too. I was late coming into work this morning and I was stuck using even just the surface streets. The roadways when you're approaching the intersections, all of a sudden will hit you with an ocean or a pool of water and then you're going to see those break lights, people starting to back up turning around. You'll also see crews out in the intersections telling everybody to turn around and we're starting to see even more crash icons pop up. But let's just talk about everything that's going on here. So you're seeing some greens and also some blues. This is showing the rain. The rain activity that's in the blue right now is So you're going to see a lot of activity for the I 17 areas of I 10. Of course, we were just looking at it over at 43rd Avenue. And East Valley, still seeing a lot of activity. Now, we are seeing some dangerous road conditions over near McDowell going westbound at 99th Avenue. And then we have a crash. going westbound at 91st Avenue. And we have a lot of other hazardous areas that aren't popping up on the maps right now. So keep in mind, even I was on Grand Avenue over near Glendale, lots of flooding there. But here as well, Lincoln Drive, eastbound over at 32nd Street. Let's talk about closures, okay? So Thunderbird Road shut down in either direction. That's over near the I 17. Drop it down just a little further near that I 17. Grant Street also closed. You're gonna see a lot of people also near Indian school and Camelback use those frontage roads when I was coming in. They weren't as flooded. But again, if you can just prolong heading out the door this morning, that would be your best bet. But the U. S. 60 also closed over at priest drive and then war activity on the U. S. 60. But this is westbound over near Val Vista Drive, and then this ranges from country club drive all the way over to Greenfield Road. So you're going to start to see because that's what the closures are. We're seeing extensive flooding on Grand Avenue. That's between Bethany Home Road and then down to Glendale. Glendale was where I was earlier this morning. Also, I 17 in either direction, 19th Avenue over near Cactus. Watch out for flooding there as well. Also at Indian School, again, as I mentioned, those frontage roads not as heavy. The 51 in either direction over near Shea Boulevard and Thunderbird, we're seeing a lot of We're going to see a lot of rain. We're going to see a lot of standing water there. Also near cactus. So just plan ahead. I mean, if you're trying to get into work this morning, You need to give yourself. Ample amount of time and also planned several alternate routes. I had to use about five alternate routes on my own just to get into work this morning here. Also loop one on one near that loop to two. You're going to see flooding all the way down all the way getting closer to Dobson and Scottsdale as well. And right at the loop to you go to and loop one on one interchange. So if you were heading out this morning and you want to find some I mean, yes, we want you to be safe out there and use caution. Good thing. We have live TV. This just popped up that it's clearing us 60 in either direction over near the loop to a to Santan freeway. So at least that's some good news. It seems to be lightening up Katie. Okay, we have a flash flood warning effect until Sunday morning. It's 7 o'clock. It has been extended by the National Weather Service. And so I do want you to know if you can stay inside until 7 o'clock. Here's a look at the thunderstorms sliding on through from the south. We've seen 2 inches of rain in about 2 hours. Sun Lakes, Chandler, Mesa, also into Buckeye and Arlington. That's where we're seeing the hardest hit. The green color, that's light rain. And then the yellow and the red, heavy downpour. And we're seeing the cluster of thunderstorms sliding on up. By 17 past Anthem, eventually on up into Flagstaff. Health and the Florida Department of Staff. Now this flash flood warning is going to last for the next couple of hours, but this is not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, we are going to be under a flash flood watch. Even after the flood, the flood warning expires until this afternoon, things will start to lighten up as we head through the afternoon. Temperatures very to 91 as we head through the afternoon. Thunderstorms will start to die off tonight, but still a chance for thunderstorms tomorrow. We're gonna have a closer look at the radar and a look at all those warning and watches coming up right after this break. Stay with CBS five News. Phoenix under flash flood warning; stay home if possible It is now 5 20 on this Monday morning, but it may already feel like it's been a full day for you. If you have been out on the roadways this morning trying to get to work right now, the best advice if you were listening to us, stay home, don't even risk it. You're looking at I 10 and 43rd Avenue, but you probably can't recognize it. It looks like a lake. The traffic is in one lane and incredibly slow. In fact, several vehicles, you can see them blinking towards the middle of your screen are stuck and they're going nowhere. Yeah, and we've been talking with DPS. They're doing their very best to answer the 911 phone calls that are coming in. If you're at home watching this right now, you have a loved one out on the freeway, tell them to stay in their vehicle if they can safely pull off the freeway to do that. If they're on their way to work and haven't hit the freeway yet, call them. Tell them to turn around and come back home because. We've got surface streets flooded. We've got freeways flooded, and this is a mess it's going to be for some time. Uh, Department of Public Safety says it could take hours. Let me do a quick rundown of your freeway closures that you're going to want to avoid. They've got flooding and other issues. But first of all, flood. Flooded freeways. I 10 43rd Avenue I 17 Greenway to Indian School, the underpasses U. S 60 at Mill and these are some serious problems. South Phoenix is getting slammed right now. So is the West Valley 83rd to 27th Avenue McDowell and Indian Schools. It's a serious mess, Katie. I'm so worried because this is valley wide and we are looking at the roadways, but there's going to be a delayed reaction with these flooding. It's some of the low lying areas as well. Absolutely. And we are under a flash flood warning. And that means that if you're in lower ground, you want to literally get to higher ground because you are going to see flooding in that region. Also, usually we have isolated thunderstorms. These are not isolated. These are widespread lot of widespread thunderstorms sliding across Maricopa County moving to the north. And another thing that we have working against us this morning is that it's not going to be over anytime soon. This warning is in effect until seven a. m. And even after that, we're going to see more thunderstorm slide through, adding to the traffic nightmare, adding to the rain that you already have You're already dealing with. So let's zoom in and show you with our street level mapping where we're seeing the heaviest rain live five Doppler radar. Phoenix has been the bullseye. Right now we're seeing a cluster of thunderstorms sliding on up to the south of Guadalupe. It's going to be running through I 10 everywhere. It's raining. It's a difference between light rain and a heavy downpour. If you're traveling on I 10, it is really raining hard. Buckeye Arlington. They have picked up two inches of rain just this morning. So the seeing over the last couple of hours. Picking up all that rain as you slide on over to the East Valley. They have been dealing with rain for the last three hours from Chandler to Gilbert Mesa. If the rain didn't wake you up, the thunder probably did on up into Scottsdale, the one oh one dealing with heavy downpours. And as you can see from our A dot cameras that we've been This isn't just a little bit of standing water that you just kind of need to drive through. These are, uh, major traffic holdups and it actually feels like you hit a wall. I ran through some standing water. I didn't even see it this morning. And, uh, it's dangerous because you just, it's like you hit a wall and you can't move. Uh, I 17 on up, Black Canyon City, you're dealing with a cluster of thunderstorms that just moved to the north. We're seeing a lot of thunderstorm activity as you head on up into Flagstaff also. So, the reason we're seeing so much rain is because this is This is of course the monsoon, but also we're tapping in to some tropical moisture. We've been talking about Hurricane Norbert. So what's left over of that tropical storm now is moving into our area. So flash flood warning at first, it was in effect until 4 45 AM and then six and now it's six. We're live at seven o'clock from the National Weather Service. Flash flood watch and effect for the entire state through this afternoon, and that's for urban areas. I don't need to tell you that. As you look out your window, you can see it's probably. Flooding in your neighborhood. 74 degrees right now, 88 by noontime. Only 91 as we head through the afternoon, things will start to dry out a little bit tonight and a chance of thunderstorms for tomorrow, and then it will be back to normal by Wednesday, Pat. Okay, Katie, thank you very much. We, uh, want to go ahead and go to our telephone right now because we have a school closure that we need to let you know about. A school superintendent in Tonopah is canceling classes because of flooding A school superintendent is canceling classes. It's that bad and we're live with Mark Yorenstad from Saddle Mountain District in Tonopah. When did you make the call? Uh, ten minutes ago, uh, we're a 550 square mile district from the White Tanks all the way to Maricopa County line. The washers are running full and, uh, even four wheel drive, uh, vehicles. Trucks can't get through, so we're not going to take any chances. All of our students are bused, so it's time to call it for the day. Mark, have you ever seen, or how long has it been since you've seen this type of flooding in your area? Uh, about a year and a half ago, we had to call, call a couple of our schools for the day, but this is This is the worst we've had in a couple years, at least. Our district office, uh, has washes on both sides of it. That's completely isolated right now. No one's even gonna be able to get in and go to work at all. Yeah, we were seeing that with people trying to get on their way to work for those early morning risers, but your bus is you just don't want to chance it when it comes to this. Katie's been warning us that the flash flood warning has been extended until seven this morning. That's about the time that the buses get going and the kids get started on their way to school. So you want to spread the word. Stay home. Yes. And that would be appreciated if you would help us do that. No, we just did. Mark, you're instead. Thank you so much that once again, the Saddle Mountain District, he is the school superintendent and he is closing school for the day. The first time he has done that in a year and a half. We're gonna take a quick break and we're tracking this storm for you. Stay home if you have loved ones heading out on the road. them. to call them. Tell them to turn around and come back home. Be safe out there. We'll be right back. Several cars are still stuck in flooding at 23rd Ave and Indian School Well, we've been worried this morning that the rescues would start and start in earnest, and apparently that is exactly what's happening in Christine Estes of location. I 10 and 43rd Avenue, Christina. Yeah, just about five minutes ago. We saw fire truck arrived here. A couple guys jumped out and they went from car to car trying to scene. You can see how many people are in these cars. You can see. They are just filled with water right now. Hopefully Craig is showing you We've been sort of communicating him using a little sign language as we can. He's just getting out of the car a little farther down the road. There's a green Camry, and I spoke with the woman who was in that green Camry. Her name is Hannah. She's six months pregnant. Very shaken. Oh, no, she said. She thought she was going to drown. She was so excited. She was stuck. Yeah, she was stuck in the car. She said it was just flying. That's what it felt like in her mind. It was flying. She was on her way to work, didn't know what to do. She said there was another car with people. She said a 13 year old helped her get out of the car and get to dry land. She's really shocked. long time. I've been shaken up six months. Pregnant was really afraid. Christine I don't know if you're tethered by cable, but can you get to those drivers and ask them what their experience was like? Unfortunately we can't reach them. And I'll tell you what I sent my phone number to the guy that just got out of the car and asked him to call me. He didn't do it, but we will try to approach him and talk to him. Yeah, I think he was a little more concerned with maybe calling somebody who loves him and cares about him to make sure he's okay, but I will try to reach him. But but Hannah's a little bit farther down and we spoke with him. talk with her. And again, if you look farther down, there are more cars. And as I said, there's a fire truck just going along, trying to see how many people are still in cars so that they know how many they need to help get out. It is amazing here and unbelievable mess. But what I can tell you is compared to about 30 minutes ago, there are a ton fewer cars here. So the cars you see here right now are the stuck still trying to get through again. This is I 10 43rd Avenue. If Craig turns to his right photographer Craig Stern, if he goes to his right, you're going to see the guy who just got out of his car. Go back in so you can see how deep it is. Look, he's just sort of like it's like going into the deep end of a pool. It's waist level there, Christina. But the good thing is, it doesn't look like it's a very strong current at this point, but the water is still The water level is falling. And those cars are totaled. Christina, thank you for that live update. Very dramatic Coming in and Chelsea. This is a traffic nightmare. And our best advice is to stay home. Turn a home. Exactly. And of course, don't go into those flooded spots. I know I get it. I have a truck and I was thinking maybe I should try to be bold and go through it. But don't you're going to get stuck in it. It's dangerous out there and avoid the freeways. But it's hard to even just avoid those because look at all this. You're seeing a lot of of storm activity over near I 17 over even on the West Valley near I 10 in the East Valley, too. So if you're avoiding those freeways and you go and use the surface streets, you could still see all the flooding in that intersection as well. So I'm just going to run through a quick gammon of the closures that we have right now. Loop two to as you're going west found Santan Freeway right where it meets that loop. 101 U. S. City 60 shut down eastbound between Country Club Drive and Greenfield. Now the westbound side closed at Val Vista. Zipping on down to Priest Drive westbound also closed. If you're trying to use the surface streets nearby, not a good idea. Baseline also shut down 24th Street to 48th Street I 17 Grant Street. Then we bring it up further. Indian school and one more up near Thunderbird and in the cactus area over at the 51 that is shut down at cactus and you're going to see flooding. Those yellow icons are flooding all around it. We're starting to see more cars pop up even just in the regular intersections as well. And U. S. 60 shut down in either direction. Grand Avenue that's over near Bethany home all the way down to Glendale. Look at these drive times. Unbelievable. 66 minutes if you were trying to go eastbound on I 10, which we do not suggest, but that's from 83rd Avenue into the stack. Also, check out the U. S. 60, westbound, closed, almost school, over to the I 10. So, again, if you can stay home, we want to help you drive smart. We'll give you more information and help you start smart this morning right after this. We're starting smart with CBS 5 Morning News. Well, that kind of tells the story right there. Tempe school district buses running late because of flooded freeways Uh, you were looking at the U. S. 60, 60 at Mill, where it is very difficult to even see what we're talking about, because the rain is still coming down hard. Quick announcement here. We want to tell you that Tempe school district buses. Understandably are running very late this morning. So if you have a child in that school district, keep him inside for a bit. You want them standing out at the bus stops with the rain coming down. Saddle Mountains are and district in Tonopah is already preemptively canceled classes because they don't want to chance it. And here's a live look at our eight out cameras of the U. S 60 and mill. They've had closures all morning long. We've got freeways flooded from the East Valley to the West Valley and up north as well. There's your live look. Um, I 17. No, this is the U. S. 60 East of Mill. There we go. And you can see the flashing lights, all those cars being diverted because the underpasses are flooded. Um, and we got reports of water up to the windows. Wow. Yeah. In fact, this is the worst spot we've seen, at least with our cameras this morning, 43rd Ave and I 10. This was when the cars were still trying to make their way through. They have given up on that idea at this point because of the So many vehicles now have died in the water, and they're the people you just saw live very dramatic video with Christina Estes as the drivers finally were deciding to get out and try to make it to dry land when the firefighters arrived and told them that it was safe to do so. All of Maricopa County is under a flash flood warning this morning All right, let's go ahead and get over to the woman of the morning, Katie Baker, who will forecast this, but Katie, boy, it was tough to know that it was going to be this bad. It's bad. We're tapping into monsoon moisture in addition to tropical moisture moving on up from what was left over of Hurricane Norbert, and it is going to be widespread for the next couple of hours, and it's going to last all day long. So this is not just a one to our event. In fact, it's been taking place since two o'clock in the morning. Maybe you woke up to the rain or you heard the thunder. Well, it's going to continue on. So even if you're not We're not stuck in the mess yet. Later on this morning, we're still going to be seeing more rainfall, more downpours, and, of course, more accidents. So, Live 5 Doppler Radar, the bulk of it happened just to the north of Phoenix, but let's zoom in and show you where we are seeing several thunderstorms sliding on through, just to the south of I 10. Now it's moving on up into Chandler. One thunderstorm after another. Very heavy downpours. We're picking up one to two inches of rain in a matter of a couple of hours. Phoenix. All of Phoenix under rain showers, Buckeye, maybe the worst hit so far this morning and Arlington up to two inches of rain, and it's been raining there for a long time under this flash flood warning until seven o'clock this morning. In fact, almost all of Maricopa County is under this flash flood warning. That means that if you are on lower ground, you want to get to higher ground immediately because this rain comes down. It comes down fast. You don't think it's going to happen, but then it floods. 17 on up into anthem picking up lots of rain showers. Look at the Metro area. You cannot avoid the rain and if it's not raining hard at your house right now. It may start because we're seeing these thunderstorms just pop up in a line of thunderstorms pop up throughout the morning as you head on up by 17 into Camp Verde, and then on up into eventually Flagstaff, the rain showers continue to fall so very widespread. Here's a broader view on our satellite radar. As you can see the yellow and the red. Heavy downpours out there, so. break it down for you. Now. To break it down for you. This is the worst time of the morning, but that doesn't mean it's going to go away later on this morning. So this flash flood warning the National Weather Service has extended it until seven o'clock this morning. After that expires, we are still going to be under a flash flood watch, which means it's probable very possible we could see more urban flooding out there through this afternoon that should be canceled by the afternoon hours. But then we still have a chance for more thunderstorms. And of course, the ground is very saturated. So it's not going to take much to see more flooding as we head through the afternoon. Temperatures go like this, 74 degrees out there right now, 88 by noontime, only 91 degrees. We'll be lucky to hit that. As we head through tonight, things will die down. Still a possibility of thunderstorms on Tuesday before drying out for the rest of the week. Pat and Nicole. Thank you, Katie. And even our news helicopter is grounded. Normally, we'd be able to take the vantage point aerial, but instead we've got these live pictures from State Department of Transportation cameras, which are showing our freeways flooded like rivers this morning. No one's getting by. You see the name at the bottom of the screen. We want to go ahead and join Jill Hanks with the Tempe Union High School district, who is on the telephone with us this morning. Jill, what is your position there with the district? And what is the condition of your school today? Good morning. Um, I'm the executive director for community relations. So I handle the communications and we just wanted to get the word out this morning to our parents and our students to expect delays with our school buses. There are numerous road closures throughout Tempe. And so, of course, that will take some time for the buses to maneuver around those. And we just want everyone to be patient, be safe. If you are driving to school, please Please take your time. Um, give yourself plenty of time to get to school this morning and we're already hearing from Saddle Mountain School District out in Tonopah. They're much more rural and all their students rely on the buses. They have preemptively canceled classes. Is there any chance it might get as bad that you would do the same or you're just delaying things? Um, we just and we don't have a specific delayed time. We just know that it's going to take the buses a little more time this morning as they move slowly and and get around those road closures, Jill, maybe just a little perspective. I don't know how long you've been with the district, but hasn't been a while since you've seen flooding like this. I haven't been with the district very long, but I have certainly seen flooding like this in the valley. As you know, we get These every now and then, and, um, you know, it can create some havoc for, for the commute. So, our buses, um, tend to pick students up starting around 6. 30 in the morning and go through until about 8 or so. So, um, you know, hopefully things will, the water will have, um don't know if it's gone down by then, but, um, well, unfortunately, that flash flood warning is until seven o'clock for the valley. But Jill, we do appreciate your information once again. Buses running late in the Tempe Union High School district. And if you live in the area, we know that U. S 60 and Mill and Hardy. Those underpasses are all So if you do drive your child to school in that area, be advised of those closures. Let's go ahead and check in with Chelsea Davis. It's been a really rough morning. Stay home and that's driving smart. Yes, I mean seriously though, if you're heading out the door this morning, I mean look at this. You're seeing an ocean, a lake, all of this water. Especially when you're heading out in the roadways, even some of the intersections when you approach them, all of a sudden that water is just going to hit you and it's going to surprise you and you're seeing the lightning out there right now as we take a look at the maps. Lots of icons out there on the roadways this morning. Lots of flooding, lots of closures. We're seeing accidents and we're also seeing different cars that are broken down and stalled because there's just stuck in these intersections. Now I was coming down Grand Avenue. I live in the West Valley coming down Grand Avenue near Glendale. You guys, it is like an open to use your different streets trying to get around, and then you're just going to have to turn around. Emergency crews will be out there, and they'll be warning you to get away from those areas now putting on some radar here. Now, normally green looks good on our maps, but right now it does not because these are some storms. The Blue here is where you're seeing a lot of heavy rain, and now we're starting to see some orange pickup. Now that is torrential, like, downpour types of rain that we're seeing just north of us here, and that could affect people up north on the I 17. So as right now, though, we're just talking about a couple of the closures here, you will see some standing water up as high as hydrants when you're heading in this particular area, because I saw it on my way into work this morning. This is Grand Avenue between Bethany Home Road over near Glendale. So plan ahead for that. Also I 17 Thunderbird shut down there. Also down to Indian school. If you're trying to get around these spots earlier this morning, the French roads were not too flooded. Now I don't know if you're heading out the door right now. If things have changed since then, so it might just be in your best interest to wait a little bit longer. We also have a closure on the 17 closer to to 19th Avenue over to Grant Street as well. Now the 51, this closure has been here this morning too because of the flooding that we see over near Cactus, so keep that in mind. And then Loop 202 going westbound over near Scottsdale. Lots of standing water as well. Same story with that U. S. 60. You guys just, we want you to be smart out there. Don't approach those flooded streets and give yourself extra time and alternate routes. We'll be right back. Let's take another live look. Look at that. That is at I 10 and 43rd Avenue. Oh, imagine being the, you know, they're all safely out of those cars now, that we can say, but imagine being the owner of those sedans, knowing that that car is totaled and you will never be driving it again, most likely. We're going to take a quick break. We will be back right after this. Christina Estes reports on stranded drivers in Phoenix during severe weather It's 5 47. And we're live once again with Christina Estes at one of the toughest spots on the roadways right now. Ice 10 and 43rd Avenue. Just a lot of problems out there with stranded drivers, Christina. You bet. And I've got one of them right here with me. Jim Samson. And this guy was amazing because we watched him for quite a while this morning. You just sat in your car. You looked very, very calm. Tell me what happened. Um, I was in the middle lane, got washed over. Um, The place is originally, you know, way for us to go through. I got washed over this way and I knew that if the as the water was rising, I couldn't open my door. So I knew from my training to wait for the equalize with the water outside, then I could just open it up without having a rush of water or any damage happened. So I'm gonna have you step a little closer to me because photographer Craig Stern can show people exactly what we're talking about. Because when we talk about these places or these cars that are underwater, it's easy It's a mess. And like I said, we were watching you thinking, Oh, my gosh, this guy's trapped, but you were really calm. So talk about your background and why you stayed in the car. I'm a rescue diver. I did a lot of the work in Austin before I moved back here. And I just know that if you have water level raising next to your vehicle, just to wait and open the door when it equalizes and you won't have a big on onslaught of water or get yourself hurt. And when you say equalize, you mean you wait for the water to be the same level, the same level, the same level inside as it is outside. So when you're sitting in your car and you're seeing people trying to get out of their cars, what are you thinking? I was trying to wave to them to calm down because all that they're going to do is possibly hurt themselves or, you know, another vehicle that's floating by might run into them as they're trying to get out. And then I see you. a question. I saw you when you say the water equalized. What did you do? I just opened the door and stepped out, and I'm telling you he did because I saw him and I was like, Wait a minute. Why is that water not rushing in? So thank you for sharing that information because I learned something this morning. I hope to never use it. But I appreciate the information. Thank you. And how are you feeling? Tell me you're on your way to work. So the boss now knows here's your proof, right? Yeah, the boss I also steered the boys off from taking the freeway at all today, so hopefully they're all, uh, doing my job. Hey, thank you, Jim, so much. Appreciate it. I'm glad that you're safe. And that's really the good news here. There's a lot of certainly upset drivers and devastated drivers because their cars are certainly totaled at this point. But the good news, so far we are hearing no one hurt. Reporting live from Phoenix, Christina Estes, CBS 5 News. Well, I guess if you're going to have just a minute of levity, If anyone has to step out into the deep water, it probably should be a rescue dive. Yeah, what are the odds of that? That was fascinating. You know, those pictures are great. To see that live video, you can see how high the waters are. It's been raining for a couple of hours. It just shows you how hard and how far. So we're going to talk a little bit about the rain and how fast the rain has been coming down. It really is a serious situation. Try to stay inside if you can. Try to delay your plans. Call ahead to your child's school to see if perhaps they do have a delay or a cancellation because that will be taking place right now. We are under this flash flood warning until 7 o'clock this morning. for the next couple of hours, at least, and we are dealing with thunderstorms all day long. Chandler, you're picking up a good dose of rain right now. Thunderstorms sliding from Sun Lake, Santan, all the way up into Chandler. I 10, it is coming down. Buckeye, you have been the bullseye all morning long. Two inches of rain so far. I 10, you're going to see the heavy downpours as you drive into the city, if you can drive into the city. Also, thunderstorms moving just to the west of Sun City West. The yellow and the red, whenever you see that on the radar, that is an intense downpour of rain, and that's what happened on up I 17 to the south of Anthem. Also picking up rain showers, you keep traveling on up to the north into Flagstaff. So far from this morning, Deer Valley, more than an inch of rain. Out at Phoenix Sky Harbor, initial reports more than two inches of rain. is the increase of rain. Luke Air Force Base more than an inch of rain and more than an inch and a half in Scottsdale. Here is our satellite radar. We have tropical moisture in combination with our monsoon moisture, so that's why it's so widespread. Flash flood warning in effect until seven o'clock this morning. After that expires, we still will be under a It's a flash flood watch, which means the possibility is still there to have that urban flooding for today. So right now, rain thunderstorms by 7 o'clock, still rain thunderstorms. It will lighten up a bit, but a chance of thunderstorms lasting through the afternoon, only 88 by noontime, 91 by 5 o'clock. And those thunderstorms lasting through the early evening hours before taking a break. As we head through tomorrow, still lingering thunderstorms, then drying out for the rest of the week. We have a lot more to come. We're going to check in with your traffic and more weather. Right after this break. Stay with CBS. Yeah, let's take one more look, Katie at 43rd Avenue and I 10 boy, you know, you can see it's quick. The video, you can see the traffic moving to the far right and the car stranded at the bottom of your screen. Stay home, stay safe. We'll be right back. Welcome back, everyone. We want to help you drive smart now, especially with all the storm activity and flooding you're seeing out on the roadways this morning. Look at this. This is the I 10 over near 43rd Avenue. It looks like a lake now taking your cars out here or a boat out here. Nothing. It's not a good idea if you could just stay home and avoid leaving for work just a tad bit longer this morning. That would be in your best interest. and also don't use those major freeways because most of them are looking like this. As we take a look at the maps, I want to point out a few things to you. This crash just popped up. Loop 101 going southbound over near Grand Avenue and it is involving a motorcycle, so the left lane is completely blocked there if you're trying to use that Loop 101. And if you're using your surface streets, they are going to look like pools at this point. A lot of specific intersections, especially over near Glendale and Bethany Home Road. We have a closure here also I 17, very slow moving this morning because we have a closure over at Indian School. If you use the frontage roads, they are flooded, but not too bad. But again, I just wouldn't recommend going out there right now. Also U. S. 60 going eastbound between Country Club and Greenfield. We have those closures and westbound over at Val Vista. That's a of slowing there. You guys look at these drive times 43 minutes on the I 10 50 minutes 17. So just be careful out there. Give yourself extra time and use yourself extra time and use plenty of alternate plenty of alternate routes this morning, maybe even this morning, maybe even delay work. Guys saddle Mountain School district in Tonopah's already caught canceled classes. Buses are going to be late in 10 P. You know, we know that you have a lot of pictures and video that you've been taking all morning and so we want you to go to CBS5AZ. com and click on that red action button. You can send both of those to us on that button and then we'll be playing them on our, we've got another hour of the show and this flood isn't going away. Be safe. Stay with us. We'll be right back. You're Many roads in North Valley are flooded this morning due to strong monsoon storms starting smart with CBS 5 Morning News. It is 6 a. m. and what is so incredible about the scene that you're looking at right here at 43rd Avenue and I 10 is that it is not unique. It is playing out valley wide. People getting out of their cars, having to sit in them until the water gets above to their chest before they can actually open their doors and get out. Yeah, look at these live cars. forecast. We've got a lot of pictures of this sedan just stranded there. The good report so far, no reports of any imminent water rescue emergency crews have been checking to make sure that everyone is safe and so far. So good. But yeah, you can see the lightning is still coming down out there. The rain is still falling. We're talking about severe have some serious closures from I 17. I 10 U. S 60. It's east, West North Valley. Let's just get into it, right? Strong monsoon storms rolled into the valley overnight. It looks like they're going to be hanging around for a while. Many roads are flooded this morning. Give yourself plenty of time. Take it easy. driving in the rain, stay home is actually the better advice. Drivers are being smart. If you see water, don't drown. Turn around. Our emergency crews are very busy. They don't need any stupid motorists to ignore the flooding signs driving into those dangerous conditions. They already have enough of them. You know, it was really coming down hard at 23rd Avenue and Indian school. This is just the rain coming down, but the flooding is really the story. Yeah, we're on the monsoon watch this morning helping you start smart with everything you need to know about the rain. And the storm helping you get ready as you head out for the day. Let's go ahead and go to, uh, We're Estes, who is live at I 10 and 43rd Avenue. Really that spot that we've been showing all morning and shake Chelsea's keeping an eye on your soggy morning commute. But let's start with Katie and the weather center tracking the very latest conditions. Buckle in right buckle in because it's going to continue on for at Jessica Smoot. It's been a nice couple of hours. The heavy downpours, the lightning strikes in the severe thunderstorm sliding through. This is not just a one hour event. It's going to continue for at least another hour where we see the same intensity. Then things will start to lighten up a bit, but more rain all morning long is into the afternoon and the evening hour when the ground is so saturated from these thunderstorms moving through live five Doppler radar. Let's zoom in with our street level mapping to show you a few problem spots, which everyone is dealing with a problem spot where we're seeing the heaviest rain right now to the east of Sun Lakes. You can see the yellow and the red color on our Doppler radar. That is a downpour. So I'm sure that's waking you up this morning if you weren't already awake from the thunder and the lightning, uh, about three hours ago. Buckeye, two inches of rain already. Avondale, picking up a whole lot of rain. I 10, a complete nightmare to be traveling on. Sun City West, just to the west. A lot of rain is falling in a fast amount of time, so be careful if you're waking up in that area. Also, I 17, as you travel out of Phoenix, where we do have a flash flood warning in effect, solid rain. You head on up, look at these thunderstorms sliding on up I 17 into Flagstaff. So far this morning, very impressive rain totals. No surprise we're seeing some flooding out there. More than an inch out at Deer Valley at the airport. Phoenix Sky Harbor, Pacific Northwest. More than two inches of rain, and that's just in the last couple of hours. Luke Air Force Base, more than an inch of rain, and Scottsdale picking up more than one and a half inches of rain. Satellite radar, it's widespread, it's heavy, and it's going to last as we head through the next couple of days. Maricopa County and a little bit to the south until seven o'clock. That means it's likely and it's happening right now. If you are in lower ground, you want to immediately get to higher ground because it is going to flood flash flood. Watch as we head through. After the seven o'clock hour. We're still going to be under a watch, which means it still can happen. It's not as likely but urban areas you want to be careful. And we're going to start to see warmer as we head through the mid morning hours and into the afternoon. Keep in mind any rain we get later this afternoon is in addition to our already saturated ground and already seen that flooding out there, so it's going to cause even more of a problem. 74 degrees thunderstorms right now. Thunderstorms by seven thunderstorms in the middle of the morning and then by noontime we're going to start to see a chance of thunderstorms. It'll break up a little bit, but still it's going to stay wet as we head into this evening, even a chance of thunderstorms for tomorrow before drying out. right now on Wednesday and on Thursday. Pat Nicole. Okay Katie, that is what is going to happen. But let's go ahead and take a look at what we have been dealing with all morning. Yeah, Christina Estes is live at 43rd Avenue and I 10. One of the big trouble spots out there for drivers getting stranded by the flooded waters. Yeah, it's It is a mess out here. Something I've never seen in more than 15 years living here in the valley, just in within very close eyesight here. I've counted 20 cars that are submerged and submerged really means submerged anywhere from all the tires to all the way up to the about the tops of cars. We spoke with a couple drivers. One was a pregnant woman, six months pregnant. She told me she really panicked that she felt like her car was flying. She couldn't get out, she said. Strangers helped her get out of the car. She was really, really fearful for her life. She thought she was going to drown. We spoke with another driver who actually stayed in his car to get out of his car. We watched him just sitting calmly inside his car. We're thinking. What's that guy doing? Is he not going to get out of his car? Does he need help? Listen to this interview that we did with him. Not too long ago. His name's Jim Sampson. Here's what he had to say. Um I got to go ahead from the police to go through. And all of a sudden I got caught by a wave and just moved over here. Open the door, so I just waited inside for the It's a little bit of a just from the inside to the outside and then just open it up and climbed out. And tell me why you waited in the car because a lot of people said, Oh, my gosh, I got to get out of here. Because if not, You're gonna have a wave of water come in and could possibly knock you out. What was going through your mind while you're sitting in there watching all these cars because it was a little like bumper cars. Yeah, I was watching the car behind me, and I was also wondering, um. You know, call my boss makes to let him know I'm not going to be in today and, um, double checking my triple A insurance for the toe out of here. And Jim just told me that his wife has called the insurance company, so they're keeping their phone number. He's not going to be the only one what a mess and your car doesn't have to be completely submerged like these in order for you to have to suffer some damage. Um, it's really, really tough out there, not just here at I 10 and 43rd Avenue, but as we've shown you all around the valley. So if there's any way for you to stay home from work today to work from home, you may want to call into work and say, Hey, turn it on CBS five and check out how bad it really is. So if you can stay home at least this morning, try to do so because it is dangerous driving out here. Reporting live from Phoenix, Christina Estes, CBS 5 News. Thank you so much, Christina. Yeah, we want to help you drive smart now. She mentioned staying home really is the best bet. I mean, look at I 10 over near 43rd Avenue. We're just giving you a different look here. You can see, look at this. It looks like a lake. If you had a boat, you could just soar on by. But we want you to stay safe. You can see how busy it is out there on the roadways. Look at these maps. We're seeing lots of icons. We see flooding, we see closures, we see crashes, we see cars that are just stalled now at intersections. And look at this, the contouring here, the blue is heavier rain, but the yellowish color you're seeing there is a downpour. So you're starting to see it really come down in the northern parts here, but you're seeing rain, very widespread. So as we zip over near I 10, of course, going eastbound near 75th Avenue is closed. So as you're making your way into downtown Phoenix, using your surface streets would be a best bet. But even those are going to be flooded near your intersections. Especially if you're over near Bethany Home and Glendale. I got caught in that mess this morning. And if you drive a truck like I do, don't think that you can get through those intersections. They're going to make you turn around and you're going to see those flashing lights. It's not worth it, you guys. Also, Thunderbird in either direction over near I 17, we have that closure. Then Indians. school. The frontage roads aren't as well. They weren't as flooded this morning if you're trying to take those near I 17 instead. But we also have a closure over here, 19th Avenue and Grant Street as well and loop 202. Now this isn't a closure yet, but we're seeing flooding that says you're going eastbound. That's between Dobson over to Scottsdale. So give yourself extra time this morning or just stay in if you can. U. S. 60 also eastbound between Country Club over to Greenfield and Westfield. so much. another crunch bounce at Val Vista and our last closure here. I know there's a lot this morning. Keep in mind Loop 202 at Santan Freeway, right where it meets that loop. 101 also closed. So again. Those intersections even if you're trying to use your surface streets to get around might still be dangerous for you. So here are some other tips to help you drive smart this morning. Stay in those middle Give yourself extra stopping distance and come up with some alternate routes for you because you might be going through several of them. Pat? Okay, Chelsea, thank you very much. If you want to track the radar or get text or email alerts, just head to our website, cbs5az. com. Everything you need to know is right there on our front page. We, of course, have a lot to tell you right here from our anchor desk. School buses and classes. Classes canceled. Saddle Mountain School District out in Tonopah. The buses are running late at Tempe School District. And Pat, I'm really curious to see how things are going with that neighborhood in South Phoenix, 19th Avenue and Dobbins area. The mayor, the county flood control, took a personal tour of the area. They promised they didn't have a quick fix. Remember that whole neighborhood in Levine was flooded out? Yeah. What are they waking up to this morning? If you're safe, take pictures, take videos. We want to see them and stay safe out there. Help your neighbors if you can, and Katie's got the latest radar. Live 5 Doppler radar just to the south of Buckeye. We have picked up four and a half inches of rain in the past week. It's going to be a hot and humid day. We're going to have a lot of rain in the next three hours. Flash flood warning in effect until seven a. m. Heavy rain sliding on up as we head to the north, and we do have a flash flood watch in effect until this afternoon. We'll be right back after this. Did your cell phone wake you up overnight and warn you of the emergency flash floods? This is the reality that's out there on the roadway. Stay home. Uh, if you have a loved one headed out right now, tell them that you're And I'm going around, call them up because look at this. The freeways are lakes this morning with dozens of cars. Christina S is out of 43rd Avenue. And I 10. These live pictures right now, she said she counted 20 cars. Look at that one submerged. You only see the windshield above the water So I'm going to take a look at the I 17 right now. You can see that at least now traffic is moving smoothly. Once again, it was shut down in Indian school for a time. But right now, traffic is moving smoothly on this stretch of I 17 at cactus. So that's good news. Finally, some good news to report this morning. Yeah, they even had at I 17 in Greenway. A car was trapped in one of the underpasses up to the windows. a few thunderstorms earlier this morning. So Katie, it's just been coming down everywhere everywhere, and it's going to continue. This is widespread and long lasting. We are under a flash flood warning until seven o'clock this morning, Live five Doppler radar where we're seeing a series of thunderstorms sliding across Chandler on up into Mesa, this yellow and red. This is an intense downpour as we head into Phoenix. We'll have more on that place where we've had more than two inches of rain out at Sky Harbor. It continues to rain this morning. Sun City West, especially just to the west, picking up some rain showers to the south of Buckeye, by the way, almost four inches of rain. And then as we head on up into Black Canyon City and anthem, we're picking up some rain showers and it continues to move on through Flagstaff. We are going to be under a flash flood. Watch after the warning expires guys until this afternoon. Nicole and Pat. Okay, Thank you very much, Katie. In fact, let's go ahead and get some more weather coverage. We've got it coming up straight ahead. But first, Chelsea's watching the roadways. Chelsea. Hey, good morning, you guys. Yeah, it is busy out there. I 17 as you're making your way southbound from Bell into about, uh, the You're looking at more than a 50 minute commute and the roadways themselves very, very doused and covered in flooded water. So I'll give you a full traffic report and how to try to get you around some of this mess in a few minutes. That was good. All right. You are looking at 43rd Avenue and I 10. And I just want to let you know that we have counted 20 cars now that the water is in the doorway and some up to the roof and the window. The flash flood warning is still going to last until seven o'clock. So stay tuned. It is still dangerous out there, folks, as this driver is realizing. Yeah, and here's some footage that we, uh, got earlier of drivers just doing the best they can. One, to get out of their vehicle, and then two, to try and push it over to the side of the freeway. Um, that's what's going on. That's kind of the word that emergency responders are saying if you're, if you're safe, it's safe to do so. Get out of your vehicle. Get off to the side of the freeway. Of course, we've seen a lot of flashing lightning, which makes me worried for these folks out there. Well, Chandler and Mesa, there was a really strong cell that was moving through. In fact, right now, let's go ahead and get over to Katie and she can tell us a little bit more about that. That's right. A cell and multiple cells moving on through. Live from Chandler. Good morning, everyone. I'm Doppler radar. Let's show you the Chandler area because it is getting pounded right now. We'll zoom in the yellow and the red. That is intense right over Chandler. That is an intense thunderstorm cell. That's where you pick up a couple inches of rain in about an hour as it quickly moves on through Gilbert. Also. The bullseye of this next round of thunderstorms as it moves on up into Gilbert. But you know what? It's not just the East Valley. It's the entire valley as we head to the west side. Another string of thunderstorms sliding on up. From Buckeye, where they have had several inches of rain since early this morning, uh, around 345 inches depending on where you are. this another round moving on up past I 10. This is a complete nightmare to drive through into Avondale. It is flooded in some areas. Sun City West Surprise Young Town. You are picking up solid rain and then heavy rain on the way moving in from the South anthem thunderstorms if it's not if it's not a downpour, it will be within the next hour or so and then more rain showers as we move on up to the north. In fact, here's another line of thunderstorms. You can. There it is. These are It's not isolated because we're seeing tropical moisture in combination with our monsoon moisture tap in, bringing us all this rain, even sliding on up into Flagstaff. This is just the beginning, but already more than an inch in Deer Valley out at Sky Harbor, more than two inches of rain. Luke, Here's our satellite radar. Here for space more than an inch of rain and Scottsdale more than an inch and a half. Of course, Buckeye picking up 345 inches of rain, so those totals will be changing throughout the morning. Here's our satellite radar. You can see how widespread and what a big area this is affecting flash flood warning, so it will stay this bad until seven o'clock this morning, so it's not gonna lighten up before you have to go to work. If you're leaving in the next hour or so, nothing really is It's going to change after our warning expires by seven o'clock National Weather Service. They put out a flash flood watch, which means it's not as likely, but the risk is still there for flooding in urban areas. We're going to have more thunderstorms throughout the day. This is not just a morning event. This is going to take place all day long now. Granted, this is the worst time right now and for the next couple of hours, but still thunderstorms throughout mid morning hours, temperatures warming up from the 70s into the 80s will be lucky to hit 91 degrees just because the rain is coming down so hard. It's going to keep us cool. A chance of thunderstorms as we head through tonight, then a chance for tomorrow. Then we will start to dry out as we head through Wednesday and Thursday back to normal. We'll check your traffic right after this break. Stay with CBS 5 News. 622, welcome back. We've been showing you live pictures at 43rd Avenue and I 10. Let's take you to the East Valley. This is in Tempe, U. S. 60 and Priest, which is also a mess. The U. S. been closed down and now Hardy, a lot of the underpasses have been flooded. Overnight Earlier. We were talking to the spokesman from the Tempe Union School district where they were saying that buses were running late, but they were still a full go. And you just got that feeling that that announcement was going to change. And sure enough, they just sent out an email saying that school students do not need to come to school today, or if you really Wait until the weather event has ended, although that not is not going to happen anytime soon. Buses are still running, they are running late, and let's go ahead and look at your traffic out there, Chelsea. Wow. It has been a mess this morning, to say the very least, and telling it like it is, it looks pretty cinematic when you're out there on the roadways. Now this is a look of I 17 as you're headed down the road. Southbound. Now this is near Camelback. As you're approaching Indian school, you seeing traffic being diverted here and making you exit. If you take the frontage roads earlier this morning, they weren't as flooded when it was more of a downpour in this spot. So if you want to just remain on the frontage roads, then you can avoid having to deal with this situation. because it's going to be a 58 minute commute. Southbound I 17 from Bell, all the way down into the stack. So save yourself some grief. If you could just stay home, that would be the best advice that I could give you. But if you can't, here are some of the closures to keep in mind. Grand Avenue in either direction, Bethany Home Road over to Glendale. Now, if you get off of Grand, like I did this morning, you try to take your surface streets. A lot of the intersections are also flooded as well. So when you see those, Hit those brake lights, hit reverse, maybe turn around. You do not want to get caught in those spots. And if you're heading from the west side, trying to make your way into downtown Phoenix, we got an email from Gail. I just want to help you out. I 10, not going to happen. 83rd Avenue all the way over to 27th Avenue is. literally looking like a lake this morning. So if you want to take your, any of the surrounding surface streets, McDowell did have some flooding earlier this morning. So Thomas may be a good alternate route for you, but heading eastbound, just keep in mind, as you approach any of those intersections, you could still see that flooding. Now, good news, U. S. 60, we did have these closures here. The icons haven't gone away yet, but as you're making your way eastbound, over between Greenfield, over to, um, Country Club Drive. That closure has been lifted. Also the one with Val Vista and Loop 202, Santan Freeway, where it meets that Loop 101. That is looking clear so far this morning as well. We just looked at an ADOT camera, US 60 over near Priest, and you saw that that's open as well, but you're going to see flashing lights and a lot of things. flooding and many areas that I didn't even mention. So just keep your eyes peeled this morning and here are some other things to keep in mind. Driving in the middle lanes will help you avoid that running water. It doesn't take much to lose control of your vehicle, guys. So if you do end up hydroplaning, don't hit those brakes. Give yourself extra time when you're heading out the door and also leave extra stopping distance. Katie? All right. Well, a lot of people using that advice this morning. Look at our Live 5 Doppler radar. We have a flash flood warning in effect until 7 a. m. Chandler and Gilbert, you are getting hit. It's hard right now. A lot of folks waking up to 2, 3, 4 inches of rain, close to 5 inches of rain in Buckeye and 2 inches in Maricopa. Right here in Phoenix, 2 inches of rain. More on the way. We'll take a look at your forecast. Another look at your traffic coming up right after this break. Your starting spot with CBS 5 Morning News. We are coming up on 6. 30 on this Monday morning and if you are just waking up, folks, take a look at this television picture. Isn't it amazing? It looks like just a bunch of people decided to drive into a lake. But that is actually 43rd Avenue heading on to I 10, where we are counting at least 20 cars where the water is up to the windows. The drivers are safe, but it is still a mess out there and getting worse in some places. Yeah, the bottom line, here's some, uh, video that we took earlier of a guy trying to push his car to safety over on the side of the freeway. If you're out there, uh, trying to get to work this morning, just call in. You're gonna be late, and if you're coming from the West Valley, you're not getting there by I 10. We've got, uh, freeway closures across the valley. You know, the strong storm started rolling in overnight. Looks like they're gonna be hanging around for quite some time. We're talking surface streets are a problem. Freeways are flooded. I 10, I 17, the U. S. 60, it is valley wide, so take it easy out there and drive smart. If you see water, don't drown, turn around. There is a stupid motorist law out there, um, and that's typically if The freeways or the roads are posted as a warning sign, but the bottom line is you don't want to get caught in that and a lot of, uh, people don't have insurance for things like this. Absolutely. Be safe. Yeah, we are on the Monsoon Watch this morning, helping you start smart with everything you need to know about the rain, the storm, and how to get ready if you actually need it. to head out on this this morning. Kylie Cruz is out live in North Phoenix. Christina Estes is live along I 10 and 43rd Avenue. Chelsea is keeping an eye on your soggy morning commute, but let's get to the lady of the day, Katie Baker, who forecasts this. But, Katie, people are saying that waves of water. Yes. Ran into their cars and that's what swamped them and pushed them off the side. And it's not over yet. In fact, the National Weather Service has just issued this warning to be extended until 10 30. We've been talking about how it was extended from 4 45 to 6 a. m. then to 7 a. m. and now to 10 30 a. m. What that means for you is that these, uh, severe weather conditions are going to last. It's not going to lighten up for the next several days. So if you can avoid the roadways, I would do so at all costs because it's just, it's just going to stay this horrible for the next couple of hours. I'm going to zoom in. Everyone is dealing with downpours. I'm going to zoom in on a couple of areas to show you where we're seeing the heaviest amounts of rain. Up to around 2, 3, 4 inches of rain in the matter of two hours. So Chandler, you are picking up intense amounts of rain. Thunderstorms sliding on through Gilbert also that red and that yellow. That is a downpour. So flooding will be taking place in the Gilbert area. We head on over to the West Valley Peoria Avondale. Another line of thunderstorms sliding on up close to 60. So you want to avoid that area if you can. Buckeye pushing five inches of rain. It has been raining there. Since early this morning and just recently, another round of thunderstorms moved on through Avondale Litchfield Park. This area really getting hit hard. Couple inches of rain across Maricopa and as this loops back, you can see here it comes. The thunderstorms sliding on up to I 10 where we're seeing a lot of problems. Also, Phoenix out of the Sky Harbor. We've seen two inches of rain so far and we have widespread It's going to be a hot spread rain spreading all the way up into Anthem, uh, Black Canyon City and also into Flagstaff. So just so you know, this is going to last for this morning at this intensity for this morning. And then it will start to lighten up as we head through the afternoon. Uh, but still a chance of thunderstorms as we head through tonight and also into tomorrow. Several cars stranded at a flooded intersection in north Phoenix after two inches of rain And also we want to check in in North Phoenix where we've had about two inches of rain. Kylie Cruz, you are live at I 17 in Greenway. How's it looking out there? Well, I have to say the roadway here is flooded. The intersection is closed off right now. So at Greenway, uh, the on and off ramps right now are closed at the 17. I want to step out of the way so you can get a better idea. Look at that. This intersection is flooded and there There's several cars right now that are stranded again. We are at the Greenway underpass of the 17. I've counted four cars. I think from your vantage point now, what you're seeing through our camera, you can see two cars right there. But look at that. The water almost up to these cars. It is crazy. And I have to say, I just saw somebody actually trying to bike through this. That's probably not recommended right now. Uh, it is quite the mess out here and it seems like to be able to get around, uh, you need a boat to get through this intersection. This intersection will be closed, uh, for quite some time in Phoenix. So if you are in this area, please be careful. Please, please, please be sure to avoid this area. We had to come around off a bell, so you're gonna have to get very creative as you make your way around town. Do you want to let you know? Indian school near the 17 and Bethany Home Road. The 17 very, very backed up as we were traveling up here to try to get to this flooded intersection. The southbound at Indian school in the 17 in the south. It's a were just off bound at Bethany 17. I mean, traffic was at a standstill, so you are going to have to give yourself a lot a lot of time out there. There are a lot of flooded intersections, including this one here with several cars stranded right now, we're going to see if any of these cars owners are around here and try to talk with them. And we will send it back in the meantime, though, to Pat Nicole standing by in the studio. All right, So that's where I get on the interstate, coming into work in the morning, and even at 3. 30 a. m., there was already two feet underneath that overpass there. Luckily, I was able to make it onto the interstate, but even that is nothing compared to where Christina Estes is right now. Yeah, it's just miserable, and you can't imagine a boss who would say You don't get a pass from coming in to work late today. Christina S. This is live near 43rd Avenue and I 10 where we're talking, uh, nearly two dozen cars that you counted. Yeah, I was going to update you last time I said, Hey, at least 20 cars. And I just recounted, I've counted 27 cars in my immediate site. Let me step out of the way. So photographer Craig Stern can show you. What a mess. No other way to say it. I talked with a couple of people who were stuck in these cars. Let me tell you first about Hannah. Hannah is six months pregnant. She was heading to work this morning when she said it felt like her car started flying. She panicked. She said she couldn't get her door open. She thought she was going to drown. Some strangers, including a 13 year old boy, helped her get out of her car and get to dry land. I talked to another guy named Jim. He's a certified master diver. And Jim was the only one we saw sitting inside his car. Now, it was still dark, the water was rising, and this guy sitting in his car, calm as can be, we're thinking, what's going on with this guy? Isn't he gonna get out? Well, turns out he did get out. And you know, he walked out safely and calmly. And here's why. He said his training told him, you need to wait. Until everything is equalized, meaning that the water surrounding your car is even as, even as can be all around your car. He said That way you can open your door and the water's not gonna rush in. So that's what he did and I watched him. He walked out, no problem. I also talked to one other guy who was making his way from the East Valley all the way while he was hoping to get to Luke Air Force Base where he works. And he told me that he was told that there was no problem. He didn't run into anybody telling him to stay off. The freeway because what's curious is I asked some people out here. Well, were there police officers? Was there anybody telling you, you know, to stay off? Did you pass some road closed or any some closure signs? And two of the people I talked to said they saw nothing like that. The one guy heading to Luke on his way to work He said he saw a couple of DPS officers on the side of the road who were dealing with Thunderbenders, and he said that all of a sudden, he got to this area, 43rd Avenue, I 10, and he said, bam, that's when he got stuck, and all the others followed. So, those are some questions we'll certainly be asking later today. Of course, the priority right now is to find out. to clear the freeway to make sure that everybody is safe and to get these vehicles out. But, we do want to find out from ADOT and from DPS exactly when the roads were closed, why they were closed, that sort of thing. So those are questions that we'll be asking for you later on today. The good news again from I 10 and 43rd Avenue, at least we've heard of no injuries. Reporting live from Phoenix, Christine Estes, CBS 5 News. Yeah, Christina. You know what? You've been heading out this morning early. Pat mentioned it. We both live on the west side of town. It just hits you. All of a sudden you run into a mess and you only see flashing lights of brake lights in front of you and then that's the warning to not go through that intersection. So we had that ADOT camera. That was I 17 over near Indian School. So you're seeing traffic still being diverted there with that closure. Lots of icons out here. We have closures. We have We have crashes, we have flooding, we have broken down cars, we have Phoenix schools are closed due to flooding; buses delayed cars that are stuck in flooded water. So, let's start over at Grand Avenue. Now this is shut down in either direction near Bethany Home Road and Glendale Avenue. I was on this earlier this morning, then tried using some of the surrounding surface streets and found myself doing loop de loops, trying to avoid those intersections there. Now I 17 going southbound is still shut down over at Greenway. Now they're saying Thunderbird might be a better option for you, but I would just try to use the surface streets. streets, the nearby or the frontage roads, because those seem to be less flooded. Then as you head southbound here, you're still going to see problems approaching Indian School and still flooding heavier down there. Also, I 10, clearly, Christina was just in front of it. From 83rd Avenue all the way into 27th Avenue, it looks like a lake. So if you live on the West Valley, you're trying to make your way into downtown Phoenix for the weekend. Any of the surrounding surface streets would be better for you to take. Thomas, McDowell, but those can still have the flooded intersections. And you're going to see lots of flashing lights. So use those as four way stops for the East Valley here. Good news is, the crash, er, the closure icons are still popping up, but US 60 is now open. You're still going to see lots of flooding there. Also, this one is also open. Loop 202, uh, Santan Freeway, right where it meets Loop 202. Still going to see lots of flooding there this morning. And if you're wondering what the drive time is, if you try to go out and be bold on that I 17, 41 minutes. Going southbound from Bell into the stack. Back to you guys. Okay, thank you so much, uh, Chelsea. We've got another school closure to warn you about. Roosevelt School District in South Phoenix. Schools are closed. They're gonna make some robo calls to let families know. But Tempe Union High School School District, they're saying, stay home if you'd like, the buses are going to be delayed for students who do want to go, and Saddle Mountain School District in Tonopah has also canceled classes for the day. You know, one thing we haven't talked about much this morning are power outages. SRP has about 9500 customers without power across its service territory Uh, we've had so much to talk about with all of the road closures and the cars that were stranded, but let's go ahead and go down to Jeff Lane, who is on the phone with us from SRP. Jeff, what are you seeing, and how bad is it out there? Our power outage map looks like a Christmas tree. We've got outages all across the valley, across our service territory this morning. In fact, can you give us the numbers, Jeff? And, uh, just tell us a little bit about, uh, how it Did it immediately start when the storm hit around 3. 30 this morning? Or is it getting worse by the hour? See, we had about 9, 500 customers without power total since the storm hit. And then we had it down to about 3, 000 customers. It looks like a few A couple thousand more have been added in other parts of the, just keep the outage maps keeps, uh, going here. Yeah, it keeps bumping up and down. Yeah, and are your pockets following basically the same areas where we're seeing extreme flooding and closures on the freeways, uh, I 17 Greenway area, I 10 and, uh, 43rd Avenue and then U. S. 60 and Mill? Yes, we're having, uh, Chandler, Tempe. We have a new one and new outages in Patchy Junction. We have numerous poles and power lines down also across the valley. Well, I don't know if you heard, but our flood warning has been extended now to 1030 a. m. We still have severe storms moving through the area. What would you want, I mean, and obviously if the power is out at some of these intersections, that's only going to make things more dangerous for people. What would you want our viewers to know this morning, Jeff? Well, our, our dispatchers and troubleshooters are working hard to keep switching power outages back on. We have a redundant system. They're moving to be able to switch power back up, and if we have power outages, please report it to SRP. Now, I'm also, uh, we've been looking at, uh, live pictures on our satellite radar right now. Well, uh, the lightning strikes are still continuing. So what does that mean for your crews who are actively trying to repair these power outages? If the rain is still actively coming down, if there are still lightning threats in the area to repair those outages and good morning, I'm Kylie Cruz. Thank you so much for being with us this day. It It's quite a mess out there. I am here at the Greenway underpass at the 17 where we are seeing a flooded intersection right now. I'm going to step out of the way so you can get a better idea. This intersection is going to be closed for quite some time. We're seeing several. There's several. Four cars stranded in this intersection and that water is very, very high. The water almost up to the windshields of these cars. So we are seeing quite a mess out here. Saw somebody about 10 minutes ago, even try to bike through this intersection. Avoid this area. You're going to have to use surface streets to get around. Also want to mention the 17 on the 17. It is going to take you a long time. Well, you can hear that we are having some audio issues, which probably shouldn't surprise you with the weather that we have had this morning. In fact, take a look at how it has affected the cars at 43rd Avenue and I 10. That is the interstate, folks. And at last count, we have 27 cars were submerged. That one almost up to the roof, uh, stranded. The people had to literally sit in their car until the water got up to their chest to where they could open the door and finally make it to dry land. Christina talked to, um, a woman who was six months pregnant. pregnant in a Hummer and thought she could get through it and just before she knew it got in over her head and was helped out by a 13 year old boy. So, um, it sounds like everyone is safe so far, knock on wood. But, uh, we want to check in as well and see how cities are handling. Yeah, we've, we've heard from Phoenix this morning. We've heard from SRP a second ago. Let's check in with Scottsdale right now and Sergeant Mark Clark. Mark, good morning to you. How is Scottsdale faring today? Yeah, good morning, Pat. As everyone knows that there is a large wash that goes right down through the middle of Scottsdale that's meant to take the water from the north end of the city all the way down to the Salt River bottom, so that's doing its job. It is being overtaxed to us at some point, and it's almost to the bridges. And, um, we are, uh, trying to keep people safe out there, so there's just a lot of water that you've been hearing, and if you have to drive to work, then just give yourself extra time. You don't know when there's going to be, uh, you're all of a sudden going to be in a puddle of water. And, you know, as our friends over at DPS said, you don't want to be on the news. Yeah, and I understand your, uh, firefighters had a overnight, uh, water rescue this morning. That's not uncommon, but it does sound like everyone was, uh, rescued safely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, you know, it's it's it's doesn't never cease to do amazing that people try to get through a wash. That's that's got so much water in it. And You know, we did only have one overnight, but, you know, that one person did tie up some, uh, rescue crews for a few hours, uh, while they were safely, uh, taken out of the water, so, yeah, just, if it's flooded, just turn around, or just, you know, wait, and, you know, just wait till it, uh, everything's passable, if you have to, uh, drive. Flash flood warning extended to 1030 for Scottsdale area Now, Sergeant, we do know that the flash flood warning has been extended to 10 30, and you've got some cells moving through your area. You mentioned that the wash is overtaxed. Are you worried that the situation could get a lot worse? You know, the, the wash is very efficient. Um, it does handle a lot of water. What happens is you'll see the levels going up and down, um, by feet at a time pretty quickly. At one point it was up to the bridges and it was flooding Hayden Road, which is the, uh, road just east of the wash. Um, now it's at about five feet under the bridge. So it goes up and down, but that's a very efficient system. As long as people stay out of it, it'll do its job and, uh, people, people will be safe. So, you know, we're, we're, uh, we're. monitoring everything. We're looking at the all the flows, all the issues that are associated with flooding. And, um, you know, we're going to try to keep everybody safe and keep looking at our twitter account and we'll keep you updated as far as what's going on in Scottsdale. Okay, thanks for being live with us this morning. Sergeant Mark Clark from Scottsdale Police. Be safe out there. And in the past, I've dealt with monsoons flooding out our freeways, Pat and I 10. In the past, state road crews have had to bring in pumper trucks once the rain stops falling to get the standing water off the freeway. So it remains to be seen, but we've still got hours of rain coming down. Well, and you mentioned, by the way, earlier, we just got a new word on another school that's closed. Buckeye Elementary School is closed this morning. And I want to just get clarification, that is just the school, not the district, right? That is the elementary school, just the school is closed. And Washington Elementary School District classes are delayed. Now, let's get over to Katie, because this weather event is not over with. Flash flood warning in effect until 1030 this morning for Maricopa County And Katie, there are a lot of low lying areas that we have seen recently that have been flooded, not just once, but two or three times. This is the biggest storm I remember we've seen so far this monsoon season. Yes, it's the biggest storm that's affecting the most people because of widespread rain. In Buckeye, where they did just close some schools, close to five inches of rain. But it's not just the West Valley. You head on over to Scottsdale, where we just talked to, uh, we just talked to the police force. Well, they had about So everyone is dealing with the same thing. This is not isolated and it's not a short lived event. If you're just waking up and you think, well, by the time I get out there, it'll probably be a little bit better. Likely it won't, because we do have this flash flood warning in effect until 1030 this morning. Chandler Gilbert, your six news. We're still getting the heaviest amount of rain right now, several thunderstorms sliding on through just to the east of Mesa, the yellow and the red. That is an intense downpour. I'm sure you can see the lightning and hear the thunder out there in Phoenix. We've had more than two inches of rain out at the airport. Look at this. It is widespread. Everyone seeing rain. The only difference is if you're seeing steady, lighter rain or heavier downpours in Buckeye Arlington. That's where we've seen really the most amount of rain this morning. Mhm. And as I mentioned, in some places approaching five inches of rain, and it just started raining around 3 30 this morning, Sun City West. You are the bullseye right now for a line of thunderstorms sliding on up through the 60 into Sun City West. You're going to be dealing with even more rain than you already have. The ground is already saturated in these areas. Anthem Black Canyon City. You head on up by 17 more thunderstorms, heavy rain all the way into Flagstaff. staff. So we are going to continue to watch this widespread. Super multi cell system. Here's a look outside. This is what you're going to be dealing with out there for this morning. We have a flash flood warning, which means it's happening. It's going to continue to happen. We're going to see flash floods in low lying areas and even in a little bit higher areas because we've seen so much rain in such a short period of time. This is for Maricopa County. As we head through mid morning hours, The warning should expire, but the National Weather Service has put a flash flood watch in effect for the early part of the afternoon, so even as we get over that hump of mid morning, you get into the 11 o'clock hour, things will look a little bit better, but guess what? We still have thunderstorms in the forecast, so more urban flooding could start to take place. Really for the entire state, so breaking down your day right now. It's horrible. It's going to stay that way through the next couple of hours. 7 o'clock. No exception to the rule. It'll start to break up a bit as you head through the lunchtime hour, but still thunderstorms out there. 88 degrees. Then by this afternoon, we'll be lucky to hit 91 degrees, but maybe we'll eke out a little bit of sunshine to help with those temperatures. We're going to See the thunderstorms taper off, but still a chance of thunderstorms even into the evening. Unfortunately, as we head through tomorrow, a chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday before drying out and heating up as we head through the rest of the week. Chelsea. All right, Katie. You know what's interesting? We never really get a snow day here, but we're getting a rain day. And look at this, you guys. The I 10. This is 43rd Avenue. Can you believe this? Remember when I would show you the THADOC camera, even just last year? Traffic moving along, but clearly you can see not going to happen as of right now. And this is going to be closed for quite some time. So as we take a look at the maps, lots of icons. We're seeing lots of closures, crashes, uh, flooding. We see lots of stalled vehicles. So let's just go ahead and get started here with some contouring. So we're seeing greens and blues, and this is showing where the rain is coming down. We're not really seeing any of our traffic map as a normal color right now. Normally green is good, but not when we're talking about rain activity. So you can see why it's We had a little bit of yellow on there earlier, talking about some downpours. Those have gone away. So that's some good news. But let's zip on over to the East Valley first. Want to just let you know that ADOT tweeted out not too long ago, US Several closures on US 60 in east Valley due to flooding 60 as you're going, well, in either direction over near Country Club, you're going to be 4 feet to the HOV lane because of flooding in that area. Now we've had several closures on the US 60 so far, looking clear as of right now, but lots of flooding out there, so keep that in mind. Also, Loop 202, Santan Freeway, shut down westbound, right where it meets that Loop 101 interchange as well. And just zipping over to the I 10 area near Guadalupe, before you're getting around that Broadway curve, we're seeing lots of closure icons. These are out on the surface streets. You're gonna see flashing lights. Treat that as a four way signal. But in these particular areas, you're gonna see lots of flooding. Same story into Phoenix. But just letting you know, 51 still shut down in either direction over near Cactus and I 17, seeing lots of flooding near Bell. Also, if you're trying to get onto the 17 there, Thunderbird's gonna be your best bet. Greenway was shut down earlier. So using your surface streets might be your best bet, or if you can just stay home for a while, might be even better. We're gonna take a quick break, but we'll continue our coverage right after this.