By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Strong storms rolling through Tucson caused massive swift-water rescues, road closures, and power outages on Wednesday, June 17.
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The expected severe weather is why the 13 News First Alert Weather team called a First Alert Weather Day for Tuesday. You can check our forecast HERE and through our free app for Android and Apple devices.
SWIFT-WATER RESCUES
According to first responders, there were at least three swift-water rescues in Tucson.
Tucson Fire Deputy Chief Eric Jakoby said a massive rescue happened in a flooded tunnel in the Santa Cruz River at Interstate 19 and Ajo. It involved nine people.
Jakoby said one person was swept away before crews arrived. He said some crews went downstream to Silverbell, and others walked the sides of the river, but they didn’t find anything.
Jakoby said the people were in the tunnel and simply did not know how hard it was raining, and did not expect the water to rise as quickly as it did.
He said that Engine 15 was the first to arrive and saw eight people in running water. Two people were immediately swept away, but crews used throw bags to rescue them.
From there, they used the aerial ladder with a rescue ring to save three other people. The last three were rescued using a ground ladder. It took only 10 minutes for the crews to make the rescues, according to Jakoby.
All eight were adults and refused care before leaving the scene.
Jakoby said they were waiting on a helicopter to search the banks and said it can cover way more ground than they can on foot. He said the victim could be at least 10 miles downstream.
While swift-water rescues are pretty common during monsoon, Jakoby said someone being swept away is rare, and having a rescue with so many people is even rarer. He said it was probably the largest swift-water rescue he has seen.
The Northwest Fire District and the Golder Ranch Fire District confirmed it helped TFD with the rescue at I-19 and Ajo.
Golder Ranch also said it had helped the TFD with a rescue at Elm Street and Stone Avenue in Tucson.
13 News is also checking on a possible rescue near Interstate 10 and Prince Road. According to several reports, there was a rescue in the 3700 block of North Commerce Drive. 13 News has a crew headed to that scene as of 7 p.m.
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POWER OUTAGES
As of 10 p.m., around 700 TEP customers were without power. TEP said that more than 25 poles were knocked down during the storm, mainly on the south side.
13 News saw several poles down, including near Mission and Irvington, Park and Fair, and along Benson Highway.
“Our crews continue to assess the damage and restore service as quickly as they can safely do so. Please continue to refer to our outage map for continuous updates as work continues, because this number can change quickly,” TEP said in a release to TEP.
TEP offered several monsoon safety tips and said it wants to remind customers that if they see any downed power line, stay away, stay alive, and call 911 to report it.
Customers can also report outages by going to www.tep.com or by calling 520-623-7711. The company said reports can help it better track and respond to outages.
TEP asked customers without power to turn off their AC to avoid “any potential overload when power is restored.
“An overload can cause another outage or damage to their unit,” TEP said. “Avoid opening the refrigerator during a power outage to minimize food loss.”
As of 6 p.m., fewer than 60 Trico customers were without power. Trico customers can check outages HERE.
FLOODING
Flooding closed Country Club Road north of Dawson Road and Dawson Road east of Country Club Road.
East Dawson Road is closed east of South Palo Verde Road and west of Alvernon Way.
Sahuarita Road is closed at Comsoft Drive, Wilmot Road, and Alvernon Way.
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