Residents of more than 120 Mesa homes are still without power in the wake of a monsoon storm that dropped several inches of rain and caused widespread flooding throughout the Valley, and more rain could be on the way.
SRP had hoped to have things back up and running in the area of north of the US 60 near Stapley Drive by 9 a.m. Residents said that did not happen.
“I’m dressed as loosely as I can be, with a cloth to wash my face to try to keep cool,” one woman told 3TV’s Jill Galus. “It didn’t feel too bad during the night. … Now it’s very uncomfortable.
“We’re just hangin’ in there the best we can,” she continued, explaining that SRP told her the power might not be back on until 5 p.m.
Galus confirmed that new estimate with SRP.
A retention basin is more pond than park and water was still standing in the streets early Tuesday morning. At one point Monday, that floodwater was waist deep in some areas. Now it’s lapping the tires of vehicles parked on the street.
Residents say they have several inches of standing water in their basements.
SRP said it had to cut power to the neighborhood Monday evening to protect its transformers.
Residents were advised to evacuate, but it was a voluntary action. Cleanup is going to take time.
“The holdup is, that the canals are filled to the brim and can’t hold anymore,” Mesa Mayor Alex Finter told reporters Monday as he asked residents for patience.
“It’s going to take hours, days to pump the massive amount of water that’s accumulated there,” he added.
Much of Arizona will remain under Flash Flood Watch through Tuesday evening, but the Phoenix metro area is not included in that watch. Showers, however, are possible.
“I don’t want to say it, but we have more rain in the forecast today,” 3TV meteorologist April Warnecke said at 6:30 a.m. “It is very unlikely, let me be clear, that we would see something like we saw yesterday.
“Throughout the day today, we still have about a 40 percent chance for more rain,” she continued. “Any showers that do develop could bring some heavy rain, although I think it would be a little more brief than what we saw yesterday morning. That is the good news.”
The weather should start to settle down after Tuesday.