Monsoon storm causes train derailment near Tucson.
MARANA — Authorities say heavy rain from a monsoon storm in southern Arizona has caused a train derailment in Marana.
Northwest Fire District officials say about 40 cars went off the rails around 3 p.m. Tuesday as a strong storm was going through the Marana area near Interstate 10.
They say there’s no indication any hazardous material spilled from the derailment, but debris is scattered across train tracks and a frontage road.
Television footage shows dozens of crushed cardboard boxes scattered around the derailment site with many of them in puddles of water.
The Arizona Department of Transportation says the derailment area will be closed for up to 48 hours.
At one point, more than 2,000 Tucson Electric Power customers were without electricity in parts of the city due to the storm.
TEP officials say crews quickly restored power to most of the homes and businesses.
Union Pacific Railroad officials say their crews have taken over the clean-up of debris after one of their trains derailed in southern Arizona during a monsoon storm.
Also Tuesday, another dust storm battered the Phoenix metro area, delaying flights at the city’s airport.
Officials with Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport say 56 flights were delayed as of 5 p.m. MST.
They say the flights should resume when the storm passes.
Pockets of heavy rain hit several cities in the Phoenix metro area.
But the storm is far less severe than the one that hit the area Monday afternoon.
Thousands of homes and businesses were without electricity for hours as high winds and sheets of rain snapped power poles and felled trees.
Thunderstorms hit the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas Sunday night and Monday afternoon.
Arizona’s monsoon season runs from mid-June to the end of September.