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Storm hammers Valley, cuts power to 100,000

D.S. Woodfill and Annie Z. Yu, The Republic | azcentral.com 1:57 a.m. MST September 28, 2014

A storm slammed most of the Valley Saturday, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power while also flooding roads, causing flight delays, toppling trees and knocking out traffic lights.

As of 12:30 a.m. Sunday, less than 17,000 Arizona Public Service customers in the Valley remained without power, spokeswoman Jenna Shaver said. More than 71,000 were without power earlier in the night.

Salt River Project reported that about 18,000 customers were without power as of 9:40 p.m. At 3 p.m., that number was 31,000.

SRP spokeswoman Patty Garcia-Likens said most of the outages were in the West Valley, but some were in Scottsdale and Tempe. She said crews are out working to restore power.

Starting 9:30 p.m., SRP began distributing ice to customers in two Quick Trip locations in two of the harder-hit areas. The Quick Trip at 8004 N. 27th Ave., near 27th and Northern avenues in Phoenix, is in an area with 9,000 SRP customers out of power. The Quick Trip at 1545 N. Scottsdale Rd., near Scottsdale Road and Hancock Avenue in Tempe, has 4,000 SRP customers nearby.

The storm came from low-pressure system with an associated cold front moved westward through the region pulling tropical moisture in from the south, according to the National Weather Service.

There is a continued chance of thunderstorms and showers through early Sunday morning. At 10:10 p.m., the weather service reported thunderstorms in eastern Maricopa County and southern Gila County.

So far this month Phoenix has received 5.09 inches of rainfall, making it the second-wettest September on record, 12 News meteorologist Matthew Pace said Saturday night. The 5.41-inch record was set in 1939.

Arizona Department of Transportation officials said at about 4:45 p.m. that Interstate 17 at Buckeye Road was reopened in both directions after it had been closed due to flooding.

In Glendale, 27 power poles went down near 59th Avenue and Greenway Road, according to Shaver, the APS spokeswoman. The intersection may be closed or restricted into the work week after numerous power lines went down, officials announced at about 5 p.m. Greenway Road was earlier closed in both directions from 55th to 63rd avenues.

In Peoria, flooding caused road closures at 111th and Northern avenues and on 91st Avenue from Olive Avenue to Mountain View Road, city officials announced about 4:10 p.m.

Traffic signals were out at 75th Avenue and Greenway Road, 83rd and Northern avenues, and 71st Avenue and Thunderbird Road. By 6 p.m., traffic signals were restored at 91st and Northern avenues, 83rd Avenue and Union Hills Drive, and 75th and Northern avenues.

At 8:48 p.m., Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport reported a record 1.64 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 1.46 inches for Sept. 27 set in 1903, according to NWS. The Maricopa County Flood Control District reported that nearby Gateway Community College,near 40th and Van Buren streets in east Phoenix, received 2.83 inches of rain in three hours.

The airport had to evacuate its air-traffic control tower for about an hour Saturday afternoon due to high winds, delaying Phoenix-bound flights.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the Sky Harbor ground stop applied to flights coming from airports that are about an hour's flying distance from Phoenix. Some motorists were trapped by downed light poles for nearly three hours near 59th Avenue and Greenway Road Saturday, Sept. 27, during a storm in Phoenix. (Photo: Dominic Valente/The Republic)

Sky Harbor reported that at about 3:50 p.m. flights had resumed. Later they announced that delays are expected into the evening and more than 40 inbound flights had been diverted.

"The wind caused some damage to the roof of Terminal 2 in the baggage claim area and in some of the gate areas. However, all three terminals at Sky Harbor are operational," airport spokesman Julie Rodriguez said in a statement.

Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Ben Santillan said that of the about 700 calls between noon and 4:30 p.m., about 400 were weather-related emergencies, including trees that fell on cars.

Between noon and just before 9 p.m.,special-operations units responded to 46 incidents, including rescues, gas leaks and other hazardous situations, according to Santillan. Twenty-nine of those incidents were in Phoenix.

One incident, called in at 3:07 p.m., was about a working fire started by downed power lines that fell on a tin roof on Thomas Road near Interstate 17. In another call at about 3:25 p.m., a female hiker on South Mountain said she could not get down and did not know where she was because a trail had been washed away by the rain. She eventually made her way to a paved road.

The number of emergency calls slowed by the evening, Santillan said.

Day two of the Summer Ends Music Festival at Tempe Beach Park was officially called off just before 3 p.m. Saturday. The reunited Replacements were scheduled to top a bill that was also to have featured the Descendents, Taking Back Sunday, Switchfoot, Luscious Jackson and the Maine. Some of the acts were moved to the Marquee Theatre for Saturday night. The final day of the concert will be held there Sunday.

Western Maricopa County bore the initial brunt of the system, which dropped about .75 inches in a half hour Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

By 10:18 p.m., the area in Maricopa County that received the most rain in the last 24 hours was in Sunflower near State Route 87 with 3.31 inches, according to the county's Flood Control District.

Areas of Fountain Hills received up to 2.48 inches and Mesa up to 2.52 inches over the last 24 hours.

Weather officials earlier reported that Buckeye was pelted with small hail and battered by 40 mph wind gusts. The system entered the region around Buckeye, Interstate 10 and State Route 85 at about noon.

The Verde Independent reported on its website that more than 100 people were stranded at the 26th annual Verde River Day at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood due to rising flood waters.

Park officials reportedly began allowing all vehicles to leave by 2:30 p.m.

Weather information from the 12 News weather team.

Linda Hauk, a park ranger, said the people were in not in any danger.

Weather experts warned of possible localized flooding, wind gusts up to 60 mph and hail as large as a quarter.

The Arizona Department of Transportation reported that motorists would have trouble seeing in areas of the Valley and cautioned motorists to delay travel or use extra caution.

"Wherever the storm was first hitting the visibility dropped to almost zero," said Garin Groff, an Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman.

The agency reported standing water along Interstate 17 from the Durango Curve heading toward the north Valley.

NWS meteorologist Valerie Meyers said this is a storm that is typical for the fall season.

"This is not a monsoon storm," she said. "It is very much a transitional fall-type storm."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.