Phoenix storms bring floods, close airport

PHOENIX, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Storms hit the southwest U.S. Saturday, bringing flooding and high winds that knocked out power and delayed flights.

Trees knocked out power lines and traffic lights, leaving more than 46,000 Arizona Public Service Co. customers in the Phoenix metro area without power Sunday afternoon, a spokeswoman for APS said.

By 3 p.m., outages had been reduced to 31,000 customers, said Salt River Project spokeswoman Patty Garcia-Likens.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport stopped flights Saturday morning after high winds forced the evacuation of the air-traffic control tower.

The FAA said the ground stop applied to flights coming from about an hour's flying distance from Phoenix, and about 30 inbound flights were diverted to other airports. Flights resumed around 3:50 p.m.

A record 1.59 inches of rain fell at the airport, breaking a 1903 record for the date of 1.46 inches.

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

A flash flood warning continued in Maricopa and Pinal counties through 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

At least one stoplight was knocked over as were a number of trees, with crews responding to emergency calls of trees felled on vehicles and small electrical fires.

Phoenix Fire Capt. Benjamin Santillan said firefighters were working to rescue a woman and her dog who were stranded when a trail washed away while she was hiking. And in Clark County, people were evacuated from the small town of Warm Springs, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jon Klassen.