Storm a soaker:
Over an inch of rain falls; outages, flight delays result
Streets flood, flights are delayed and power outages result when an afternoon monsoon storm rolls through the Valley on Thursday, dumping more than an inch of rain.
Storms rolled through the Phoenix metro area late Thursday afternoon from multiple directions, dropping heavy rain on a large swath of the region, along with high winds and localized flooding.
The storms caused heavy street flooding, power outages and extensive flight delays at Sky Harbor International Airport.
The National Weather Service in Phoenix began issuing severe thunderstorm warnings for the northeast Valley just before 4 p.m., and those advisories later were extended to the southeast Val-
ley and northern and northwestern areas as multiple storms began moving into the region.
A early evening flash-flood warning also was issued for Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale.
By 5 p.m., rain was falling throughout much of the metro area, with some of the heaviest initial totals in a corridor along Interstate 17 in north Phoenix, areas near Paradise Valley and in Tempe.
Storms also brought rain to much of central Phoenix and areas of the northwest Valley.
The Flood Control District of Maricopa County reported rainfall totals from the storm, including 1.85 inches at Papago Park; 1.26 inches near Broadway and GIlbert roads in Mesa; 1.3 inches in Mesa's Dobson Ranch area; 1.89 at Thomas Road and 48th Street in Phoenix; 1.3 at Apache Boulevard and Rural Road in Tempe; and 1.73 near 64th Street and Osborn Road in Scottsdale.
Arizona Public Service reported power outages to more than 12,000 customers on the east side of its service region in the Phoenix metro area. Salt River Project had more than 6,000 customers without power in southeast areas of the Valley.
In northeast Phoenix, several power poles were down in an area along Shea Boulevard near 32nd Street. Phoenix fire officials responded to reports of power lines down in other areas of eastcentral Phoenix.
At Sky Harbor, all incoming and departing flights were stopped about 5:15 p.m. The stoppage remained in effect for nearly an hour before flights resumed after 6 p.m., said Julie Rodriquez, airport spokeswoman.
She said delayed flights were expected for several hours and advised travelers and those picking up someone to contact airlines for the latest flight status.
Phoenix fire officials reported they were responding to a report of an elderly couple stranded in a wash near Cave Creek and Pinnacle Peak roads. Further details were not immediately available.
Extensive street flooding slowed traffic in numerous areas. On U.S. 60 in Tempe, eastbound lanes were flooded between Mill Avenue and McClintock Drive shortly after 6 p.m., bringing rushhour traffic to a standstill.