Weekend rains pummel Santa Cruz Valley

Monsoon rains pounded the Santa Cruz Valley over the weekend, killing at least two in Nogales, where three others had to be saved from flood filled storm tunnels.

Farther north the rain was heavy, making driving hazardous at times.

Some drivers parked alongside the Interstate during storms Friday and Saturday as the deluge obscured vision.

Severe lightning accompanied by loud and sometimes cracking thunder swept over parts of the area.

The National Weather Service said Tuesday that the storms should lighten up over the next few days.

On Monday, two bodies were recovered from the Nogales wash that flows out of Mexico into Arizona in the border cities’ downtowns.

They had first been seen by workers trying to shore up the banks of the wash, and were recovered downstream about two hours later.

Earlier rescuers help three men to safety who had been trapped by water in the international tunnel.

Through last Friday monsoon moisture at the Nogales airport amounted 5.03 inches of rain, twice the average amount since the Monsoon started June 15.

The Nogales-area rains heightened the danger from a 30-inch sewer line that lies below the Nogales Wash.

It carries sewage from Nogales, Mexico, to the International Waste Water Treatment Plant near Rio Rico.

Portions of the wash’s concrete floor were damaged or moved, creating anxiety that without that projection the sewer line, the International Outfall Interceptor or IOI might break. It carries about 18 million gallons of sewage a day to the sewer plant.

The two Nogaleses, called Ambos Nogales, is a major crossing point for visitors going both north and south.

A pedestrian crossing at Morley Avenue was closed because of flooding for at least three days.

A weather gauge at the Tumacacori National Historical Park south of Green Valley recorded 2.83 inches of rain Friday through Monday. Tubac got about 2.5 inches over the same time.

Low water crossings of the Santa Cruz River at both Santa Gertrudis and Chaves Siding were barricaded.

Tubac Fire Chief Kevin Keeley said the department assisted two motorists who had been caught in flowing washes. He said no one was injured or threatened.

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749