Phoenix well prepared for monsoon season

The monsoon season begins tomorrow and lasts through September 30th and the City of Phoenix is well prepared.

"It's really part of a whole team where we are constantly preparing ourselves for this season and for other technical resource type of events," Capt. Jake Van Hook of the Phoenix Fire Department said.

Capt. Van Hook says the fire department will use ladder trucks that reach 100 feet to rescue those stuck on a roof or on the top of their car if they have to.

"We frequently use our trucks during the monsoon season, so we will probably go out and bring this truck on five or six, maybe as many as 10 different situations that we would have out on our washes," he said.

A last resort is to bring out the Phoenix Police Firebird helicopter for rescues.

"We train and fly year-round to do rescues, landing rescues, hoist rescues and what we are going to do today are swift water rescues," Paul Apolinar said.

The helicopter is typically used for rescues once or twice during the season.

"We will hover, we will see somebody that's trapped, we will attach a fire department rescue onto the hook, here we will lower them down and we will grab on and recover the victim and we will pull them off their car top and bring them over to dry land," he said.

Through it's one of the riskier rescues, it saves the most time, which can be critical.

"The big thing is if you're hurt, it's the golden hour," he said. "They want to get you to the hospital within the first hour to increase your likelihood of survival."

The best way to prevent dangerous situations is to always be one step ahead.

"For other monsoon-type events, flooding and things like that, it's a good idea to back up your computer, make sure you have sandbags ready," he said. "If you're in a low-lying area, prepare yourself and your family to exist if you have to or are directed to."