Power Outage in Tonto Basin, AZ

Flash Flood. After 2 to 4 inches of rain fell, beginning around 0830MST, over the 2021 Telegraph burn area, catastrophic flooding occurred in Claypool area between Miami and Globe. Runoff mostly collected in Russell Gulch and a few feet of floodwaters moved downhill through the Claypool community. Security cam footage from a pizza shop showed floodwaters reached US-60 near mile post 247 around 1056MST. US-60 became impassible a couple minutes later and was closed in both directions for a couple hours before being reopened around 1240MST. The same areas were impacted again in the mid-afternoon after another wave of flash flooding move through the area. The Gila County Emergency Manager estimated over 50 homes and structures were damaged by flooding. Included in the damage was the pizza shop with the security footage, which was fully surrounded by flooding. A hotel next to the pizza shop had all of its ground level rooms flooded, including a wall that collapsed due to the force of the water. Roads to the nearby hospital were cutoff by floodwaters. The hardest hit area was Little Acres Mobile Home Park, 1 mile south of US-60. Most if not all of the mobile homes had flood damage as an estimated 4 feet of water and mud moved through the park. Security footage shows one home was even swept from one side of the park to the other and was destroyed. Many of the owners were displaced from their homes for several days while the park was cleaned. A power substation next to the park also experienced significant flooding. Fortunately there were no injuries or fatalities reported from this event.

August 18, 2021

A strong cold front associated with a powerful Pacific low pressure system pushed through southern Gila County during the morning hours on November 29th. Earlier in the morning, the front caused numerous episodes of wind damage and spawned several tornadoes in the greater Phoenix area. As the front moved across southern Gila County it produced a wind gust to 66 mph as registered by a mesonet weather station. There were no reports of damage due to the strong gust.

November 29, 2019

A powerful Pacific low pressure system moving slowly east across Arizona interacted with deep moisture to produce widespread moderate to heavy rain across south-central Arizona during the morning hours on November 29th. Aided by frontal lift, isolated thunderstorms developed which helped enhance rain totals. The heavy rain resulted in episodes of flash flooding over higher terrain areas northeast of Phoenix during the morning hours and also resulted in area washes and creeks running heavily. Tonto Creek began to flow heavily during the morning, and exceeded alarm stages with water continuing to rise. During late afternoon, a large vehicle went around barricades and attempted to cross flooded Tonto Creek. The vehicle was swept away resulting in multiple fatalities. Three children were killed; 2 were found relatively soon after they were swept away but the third was not found until at least 2 weeks later after extensive search and rescue efforts.

November 29, 2019

Flood. A powerful Pacific low pressure system moving slowly east across Arizona interacted with deep moisture to produce widespread moderate to heavy rain across the higher terrain areas to the north and east of Phoenix during the morning hours on November 29th. Initially the heavy rain led to flash flooding and caused area washes and creeks to flow heavily. Water rose above action stage in Tonto Creek by mid morning, and continued to rise into the afternoon hours. According to local law enforcement, at about 1600MST a large vehicle drove around barriers and attempted to cross flooded Tonto Creek about 3 miles to the southeast of Punkin Center. The vehicle contained at least 2 adults and 7 children. The vehicle was swept away by rapidly flowing flood waters; the 2 adults were rescued along with 4 of the children. However, 3 of the children did not survive. 2 were rescued rather quickly but the third, a 6 year old girl, was not found until at least 2 weeks later after extensive search and rescue efforts. An Areal Flood Warning was in effect at the time the vehicle was swept away.

November 29, 2019

Thunderstorm Wind. A strong cold front, associated with a powerful Pacific low pressure system, moved quickly east across southern Gila County during the morning hours on November 29th. Earlier in the morning, the front produced numerous episodes of wind damage and spawned several tornadoes across the greater Phoenix area. At 0604MST a mesonet weather station 8 miles to the south of Globe measured a wind gust to 66 mph. There were no reports of damage in the area due to the strong gust.

November 29, 2019

a huge microburst hit us earlier right after our power went out and according to a p s theres power outages all ove… https://t.co/dBwbJCZZhl

@wolfinquisitor - September 02, 2019 02:53