Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer declared a state of emergency Monday as record-breaking rainfall caused massive flooding and led to the death of one woman.

Hurricane Norbert and moist weather from the monsoon season brought on drenching rains that turned parts of a Phoenix interstate into a river and forced more school closures.

A woman was also killed in Tucson after she was trapped in a car submerged in at least 15 feed of floodwater, the Tucson Fire Department said.

According to Fire Capt. Barrett Baker, "the water was flowing tremendously fast" and rescuers were unable to reach her in time to save her.

"Within a minute of us getting there, the car washed away," Capt. Barrett Baker told CNN. 

By 7 a.m., Phoenix had already received 3 inches of rain, which, according to the National Weather Service, broke the record set in Phoenix for the most rainfall in a single day. The old record of 2.91 inches of rain was set in 1933.

The rainfall also topped the 2.71 inches of rain that the area receives in a typical, three-month rainy season, the weather service said.

"Every low spot on a road is a potential problem. Be safe, please," the Arizona Department of Transportation tweeted Monday morning.

As a resutl, Monday morning commuters were stranded in Phoenix on Interstate 10, CNN affiliate KTVK reported.

"This rain is coming down so hard you can't even see to drive, not to mention the thunder and lightning right now," KTVK reporter Jill Galus said in a Twitter post early Monday morning.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton also issued a state of emergency and a statement about the storm.

"I am confident as mayor that all the appropriate steps have been taken, are being taken right now and will be taken," Stanton said, according to Fox 2 Now. "Obviously, we're monitoring the weather very, very closely."