The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said a woman who was swept away in a flooded wash early Friday has been found dead inside her car on the northwest side.
The car 52-year-old Angelina Carrasco was in was found upside down and partially submerged in the wash, a sheriff's official said Friday afternoon.
Carrasco was reported missing by her husband who was also swept away but was found stranded on a sand bank on West Manville near North Avra roads.
Her husband — in his 60s — suffered a fractured pelvis and is receiving treatment at University Medical Center, said Deputy Tom Peine, a sheriff’s department spokesman. The man’s name was not available Friday afternoon.
The rescue effort began around 4:30 a.m., when the Pima County Sheriff’s Department received a call about a male who said he was stuck in a wash near Manville and North Sandario roads, Peine said.
The man was able to get himself out of his vehicle, but told authorities that he heard another man who was yelling nearby, saying he couldn’t move because his legs were broken, Peine said.
Both the Avra Valley and Picture Rocks fire departments responded and found the man on a sand bank surrounded by water around 6 a.m.
The man reported that he had been in the water since 2 a.m. and that his wife was with him, but she was swept away, Peine said.
A significant search and rescue effort is underway, with involvement from the Border Patrol, Customs air units, and the Avra Valley, Picture Rocks and Northwest fire departments.
Search dogs from the Arizona Department of Corrections are also on hand but had not been utilized shortly after noon, Peine said.
Three other vehicles were found in a wash nearby, but the occupants are safe.
Rain overnight flooded low-lying streets. There are several roads in the far northwest and west sides that are closed because of flooding, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
For information on road closures call 547-7510.
About .80 of an inch of rain has been recorded in the past 12 hours in the area of Manville and Sandario roads, according to the Pima County Flood Control District gauges. Other areas west of the Tucson Mountains have received about 2 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, according to the county gauges.
More rain is forecast for today through the weekend in the Tucson area. A flash-flood watch is in effect in the greater Tucson area as well as for most of Southern Arizona.
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