Flash floods surprise drivers in Southwest, kill 2

[August 27, 2008]  PHOENIX (AP) -- Eunice Mork and four of her closest friends were returning from a trip they made all the time -- a 55-mile drive from playing bingo in Parker to their homes in Salome.

But this time, a raging flash flood in a normally dry desert wash surprised Mork and her friends when it swamped the 77-year-old woman's small sedan late Monday amid lightning, thunder, rain and wind in a pitch-black area of rural western Arizona.

The five women climbed out of the car and tried to cling to it, but only two could hang on, La Paz County Sheriff Hal Collett said. Mork, who couldn't swim, and two others were swept away.

"It was dramatic -- the winds were blowing so heavy that the rain was going sideways," Collett said. "I can't imagine how traumatic it was being swept away by the water."

The two other women were found alive, one clinging to a tree and one lying on the shore. Mork's body was found downstream by a Marine Corps helicopter Tuesday morning.

On the other side of the Colorado River in California, another flood victim died when her Honda sedan was shoved off a road by floodwaters. Rosemary Genc, 51, was trapped under her overturned car and drowned Monday night.

The storms Monday night hit mountains, desert and inland valleys along the California-Arizona border, and floodwaters shut down several roads and highways. Three to 4 inches of rain fell in just over four hours, said Mike McLane, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

Mork's daughter, Sharon Giles of Phoenix, said her mother's friends and an RV driver also caught in the flood told her that a wall of water suddenly came upon them.

"My mom would never enter a running wash," she said.

Water filled the wash 40 to 50 yards across and as much as 6 feet deep, La Paz County Sheriff's Lt. Glenn Gilbert said.

Mork was a partier without the alcohol, forever playing bingo, canasta or other card games with a slew of friends, Giles said. She had won at bingo Monday night.

Collett urged other residents in the area to be extra cautious Tuesday night, when another storm is expected to hit.

Because the ground is now soaked with water, he said, any rain that hits overnight likely will run deeper and harder. "If we have the same storm intensity, it would be worse," he said.

Flooding was reported Monday night in other areas of La Paz County, with reports of water damage in some homes north of Parker and trees downed by wind gusts.

Southeast of Phoenix, about 100 miles away, a thunderstorm with wind gusting to nearly 75 mph damaged 10 planes at Chandler Municipal Airport, toppled trees and flooded streets. Sporadic power failures were reported.

[Associated Press; By AMANDA LEE MYERS]

Associated Press writer Bob Christie contributed to this report.

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