Associated Press
PHOENIX — The latest round of monsoon thunderstorms to sock Phoenix swept across the metro area Friday, swamping low-lying streets, knocking out power to thousands of customers and delaying airline flights.
Rain slowed traffic during the morning commute’s tail end, and flooding closed stretches of several major roads in Phoenix and Scottsdale as firefighters rescued motorists from several vehicles stalled in washes or other areas with standing or flowing water.
News video showed an unoccupied car partly full of water and pushed by flowing water up against a guardrail on the side of a street. Other images showed pickups and other high-profile vehicles plowing through a foot or two of water at other locations.
In suburban Peoria, a firefighter used a ladder to descend into a storm canal with about 7 inches of flowing water to rescue a small black dog which officials said had been missing from its home since Thursday night.
By late morning, street sweepers and other equipment were clearing mud and debris off streets that had been under water.
Multiple locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale had 1-2 inches of rain. Much of it fell on areas still damp from heavy rain earlier in the week.
Nearly 18,000 customers of Arizona Public Service were without power at one point Friday morning, but that number dropped to 13,000 by midday as crews worked to restore service.
Flights departing and arriving at Sky Harbor International Airport were delayed 15 to 20 minutes, and three flights were diverted to other airports during the peak of the morning’s storm activity, airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said.
Forecasts call for drying over the weekend but more wet weather next week.
Earlier this week, heavy monsoon rains Tuesday snarled afternoon rush hour traffic in Phoenix, closing a freeway underpass for about five hours.
No freeways were closed during the Friday morning storms, but several streets were closed at Interstate 17 underpasses because of standing water.
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