After last summer’s bust of a monsoon, this past week’s five storms in six days has been a wake-up call to residents in the Phoenix area. Power outages, property damage, it’s all back on the table when a powerful thunderstorm rolls into town.
Last Thursday, during a heavy monsoon storm, a pump station along U.S. Route 60 in Tempe could not stop flooding — not because it failed to work properly, but because it was overwhelmed with so much rain in 90 minutes, it couldn’t keep up. ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel says the agency is aware of the problem.
Two new U.S. Route 60 pump stations at 48th Street and Val Vista Drive are to be completed this fall, he said.
The stretch of Interstate 17 in North Phoenix from Peoria to Greenway Road is also on tap for an upgrade. Nintzel said the update will replace current pump technology with a new system.
Another noticeable sign of monsoon damage: your neighborhood trees.
Beyond palm fronds and tree limbs littering lawns and streets, this year’s monsoon has toppled massive trees.
To talk about the damage, John Eisenhower of Integrity Tree Service joined The Show. He’s out in the field assessing fallout from the heavy rains and winds we’ve seen this past week.
