Heavy rain swept through the Valley on Friday night, and is expected to continue through the weekend.
As the Valley saw anywhere between 1-3 inches of rain, strong winds downed power lines and left thousands of county residents without electricity.
Ron Coleman is with Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management. He says one of the main priorities for Maricopa County has been to restore power to Valley residents, including some county facilities in lower Buckeye.
“There are some power poles down, there was some power out at some of the facilities. The Maricopa County crews, as well as the private utilities and other folks are responding. No damage that we know of at this point in time,” said Coleman.
Coleman says the county’s Department of Transportation has been working to close flooded roads, and urges residents not to attempt to drive or walk through any open flooded areas.
He added that the town of Gila Bend, which announced a State of Emergency early Saturday, has been another priority for emergency response.
Gila Bend Mayor Chris Riggs says the Red Cross is working to aid the town’s residents.
“We do currently have a temporary shelter set up over at the community center. We do have Red Cross en route, they will be setting up a more permanent shelter over at the old high school gym,” Riggs said in a Facebook Live video Saturday morning.
State Route 238, between Gila Bend and Maricopa, is also closed due to flooding.
Gila Bend, as well as most of south central Arizona, has a flash flood warning in effect until Sunday afternoon.