A late-night thunderstorm knocked out power for thousands of Valley residents for the second time Tuesday. The Chandler Municipal Airport saw some of the worst of the storm damage.
The wind was so strong Tuesday night that small trees lining the airport roads were ripped out of the ground. The storm also ripped off a wall from the airport’s fuel station and flipped about 30 small planes upside down.
Travis Weathers, an airport employee, said repairs will likely take several months
"You’ve got mangled planes you don’t know where you’re going to put them. Who is going to take care of them," said Weathers. "Chandler Air Service over here and Chandler Aviation over there, they do most of the clean up and the mechanics for all the planes, and you know they can’t do hundreds of planes like this."
National Weather Service officials said the damage was likely caused by a microburst, which produced 50 to 60 mph winds.
