Phoenix-area residents clean up after hectic monsoon storms down power lines, damages property

Following a hectic night of thunderstorms, thousands throughout the Phoenix area were impacted by the chaos on Thursday.

Thursday night's monsoon storms had a significant impact on residents in the Phoenix area, resulting in a temporary power outage for over 71,200 SRP customers at one point. As of 2 p.m. on Friday, the number had decreased to fewer than 1,000, as indicated by the company's outage map.

APS customers also experienced disruptions, as crews worked to navigate flooded areas and restore power. APS outage maps on Friday indicated that fewer than 1,000 residents remained without power.

The likelihood of storms increased on Friday, with widespread flood and severe thunderstorm warnings expected to encompass the entire state.

According to the National Weather Service, these storms will once again range from strong to severe, with chances of winds exceeding 35-plus mph for most of south-central and southwest Arizona.

The weather service advised people to steer clear of rivers, creeks, streams and washes as excessive runoff may result in road closures and unsafe recreation. Drivers were advised not to enter flooded areas or try to drive through flooded roads and low-water crossings.

Following Thursday's storm, dozens throughout the Valley spoke out about their experience with Thursday night's torrential rain.

'It was very, very close'

The outages came as Maricopa County registered at least 47 additional heat-associated deaths this week, bringing the total count for 2023 to 180, while 330 deaths remained under investigation.

The storm also hit Phoenix’s largest homeless encampment, commonly known as “The Zone." Many people’s tents were damaged by high winds and flying debris, and about four people were narrowly missed by a fallen palm tree.

“It was very, very close,” a resident almost hit by a tree told The Republic.

Donte Walker was awakened by loud thunder from the storm on Thursday night. He recalled sitting on a couch inside his shared tent within The Zone when everyone heard a crackling sound, followed by the sudden crash of a palm tree.

"It happened so fast," Walker said. "We couldn't react."

No one was hurt, he said, as the tree narrowly missed several people inside. Once outside the tent, he said he had to cover his eyes to shield them from the swirling dust. Most of his clothes were soaked from the rain, aside from what was in his backpack.

Plenty of other Valley dwellers had to battle back the storm in different ways.

"We lost power at around 9 p.m., we got an alert on our phone that the storm was going to come, and all of a sudden the wind started picking up really bad. The power went out, then my thing (a fabric and metal car cover), that shade I have right there, I had to keep holding it down, so it wouldn't blow away. We had about an hour of the power being off, but I was glad it wasn't that long", said Isidoro Leyva, who lives near Turney and Campbell avenues in Phoenix.

Leyva noted that he saw multiple downed trees blocking both lanes of traffic in his neighborhood.

Resident Leticia Bergari said the area near 69th Avenue and Coolidge Street has power loss problems rather consistently, even without the storms.

"We lost power at about 9 or 9:30 p.m., we have a lot of problems with the power in this area, I don't know why. Sometimes it's not even a storm, about two times a week the power, it goes out. I have to take (her dog) outside when the power goes out, because the house only stays cool for about 30 minutes," Bergari told The Republic, holding her 13-year-old Shi Tzu, Danny.

Forecast: More stormy weather expected for Phoenix as Labor Day weekend rolls in

Heidi Wildes and Tyler DeClercq said the storm on Thursday night caused trees to fall and take down power lines. The power was still off as of 11:30 a.m. and the pair have three kids living at their home, near Catalina Drive and 83rd Avenue. Transformers on power poles across the neighborhood exploded during the storm, according to DeClerq.

Additionally, Wildes and DeClercq voiced frustration with SRP over the response to the storm.

"Everything in my new freezer is all melting, it's all melting," Wildes told The Republic.

"We lost like $600 to $700 in groceries alone, we have kids and babies, all that, and every time we call (SRP) they say 'We don't have an exact time.' The city doesn't care about us," DeClercq added.

Wildes said they had called the company at around 6:30 a.m., stating there were live wires on the ground. SRP told her they would send someone out, but to contact local fire departments if a fire started.

"When we've had storms, we've never dealt with anything like this before, this is the first time. I mean, there are live wires (on the ground) and all they do is tape off the wires?" Wildes said. "The (SRP) guys came out and cleared out the trees, and they still haven't come back, that was about 45 minutes ago."

Frances Byers, a resident who rents the home at the northeast corner of La Salle Street and 11th Avenue, heard the two power poles crash into her yard and alley behind her home on Thursday night around 10 p.m., after she went to take a shower after being caked in dust from the storm.

The downed pole did not spark a fire, but responding fire crews told Byers she could not remain at her house. One of the poles landed directly in front of her house on the corner, and the other about 100 feet north of the corner pole, by the alley entrance. The corner pole damaged her entire block wall near the eastward-facing backyard gate, while the pole by the alley knocked several blocks off the top of her alley wall.

“It was kind of scary, especially when you have the (power) lines in your yard,” Byers said. “It sparked for a little bit but then it stopped. We had the fire department here, and they said we couldn’t stay inside the house, so most of the time we spent it outside, or I went to my sister's and stayed there for a little bit.”

For Dr. Raelene Brooks, her workout was interrupted by the spectacle. Thursday night was the first time she had experienced a power outage from a typical Arizona monsoon after living in Phoenix for three years.

"At about 10 last night, I was in the gym in our building and the lights completely went off, and I could see there was zero visibility outside," Brooks told The Republic. "It was off for about an hour, and then I noticed that the street lights were off as well, so as I exited the building to get home. It was really hard to breathe because of all the dust in the air."

Beyond outages, plenty of people throughout metro Phoenix were impacted by the barrage of dust and rain with some even requiring water rescues.

According to a Phoenix Fire Department post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the department saw nearly back-to-back instances of residents needing assistance escaping their vehicles trapped in floodwaters.

Crews assisted Daisy Mountain Fire with a rescue near Joy Ranch and Pioneer Roads at around midnight on Thursday after a man's vehicle got stuck in a road crossing and running wash area. Neither the man nor the rescuers suffered any injuries, according to the Phoenix Fire Department.

Nearly 30 minutes later, the department posted that they had helped another man out of a wash near 67th Avenue and New River Road after his sport utility vehicle was washed away. According to the post, the man's dog had gone missing as well, with technical rescue teams on the scene to aid in the search.

"Unfortunately, there have been no updates to this incident and the dog has not yet been found," Phoenix Fire Capt. Kimberly Quick-Ragsdale told The Republic on Friday morning.

According to Quick-Ragsdale, crews also responded to 12 structure fires in total caused by the storm in addition to the two water rescues.

Republic reports Helen Rummel, Ellie Willard and Reynaldo Covarrubias Jr. contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix area hit by hectic monsoon storms, leaving outages, damage