Storms left thousands without power in Phoenix area

Thousands of Phoenix-area residents were without power on Friday morning following a series of thunderstorms that ripped through the Valley on Thursday night.

According to an SRP outage map, outages were prevalent throughout multiple sections of metro Phoenix, with hundreds to thousands without electricity. Main areas where SRP customers were affected were in Glendale, south Phoenix, parts of Scottsdale and Mesa, with the company estimating outages could last until 10:30 a.m. for some residents.

As of 9:40 a.m., the number of SRP power outages had gone down from 3,900 to 2,100, but at the height of the storm, more than 71,200 customers were without power, SRP Lead Media Relations Strategist Erica Roelfs told The Arizona Republic.

"For the ones that are still out of power, we ask them to sign up for alerts from SRP so they can get reimbursed for the cost of ice in their refrigerators and freezers and we recommend that they can locate cooling centers through azmag.gov," Roelfs said.

The number of outages fell to several dozen by Friday evening, according to the outage map.

Roelfs added that areas of the West Valley got the worst of it Thursday night, specifically places near 35th Avenue and Dobbins Road, with crews trying to repair outed circuits.

"El Mirage Road and Southern Avenue is also a kind of hard-hit area," Roelfs said.

SRP customers experiencing outages longer than five hours may be eligible for ice reimbursement to help preserve perishables.

Impacted customers should: 

• Send an email to help@srpnet.com with the subject line “Ice Reimbursement.”

• Include the SRP customer’s name and address.

• Include a copy of their receipt from purchasing ice.

The APS outage map showed a similar story, with about 31 outages reported throughout the Phoenix area, affecting nearly 2,100 customers. A bulk of these outages could be seen in north and south Phoenix, as well as chunks of Peoria.

"What we saw in terms of the main cause of outages was high winds and lightning. We have multiple locations where trees fell into power lines," APS spokesperson Yessica Del Rincón told The Republic.

Del Rincón said about 2,400 customers near Rim Rock lost power due to a microburst, which took out about 10 power poles. Power has since been restored to the area.

Throughout the rest of the Valley, APS crews were working to restore energy to homes and businesses "around noon Friday." Flooding, however, put a dent in some of the oncoming relief.

"Some of our crews are dealing with flooding issues and that's creating access issues as well to get into some of those areas as well that need repairs and restoration," Del Rincón said.

The number fell to a little over 400 with the majority of the outages in Phoenix.

APS customers may be eligible for ice reimbursements as well (up to 40 pounds of bagged ice or 20 pounds of dry ice).

APS recommended consumers also have their contact information updated on their accounts in order to receive timely notifications on potential outages and repairs.

For those in immediate need, Phoenix recommended:

• Police and fire will continue to respond to those in need of help. The Fire Department's Community Assistance Program can also respond when appropriate.

• The city is working to improve communication between the city's 3-1-1 helpline and the state's 2-1-1 helpline.

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." High winds and flying debris damaged many people’s tents, and a fallen palm tree narrowly missed about four people.

Beyond outages, plenty of people throughout 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 about midnight 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 it 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 at 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.

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

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Storms left thousands without power in Phoenix area