In Tempe, a microburst and thunderstorm on Monday dropped about a half-inch of rain within 10 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm caused significant damage, including uprooting trees that toppled onto vehicles and buildings, and dropping them on streets and sidewalks.
A business complex had its roof torn off, and thousands of homes lost power.
A city release said residents can go to tempe.gov/TempeStorm for resources and more information.
The microburst also smashed through the Phoenix Zoo on Monday while hundreds of visitors were on the grounds.
"This storm seemed to come out of nowhere. Shortly after noon on Monday, a microburst unleashed heavy rains and winds upwards of 70 mph when there were a couple hundred people visiting. You know, we were ushering guests to safety and into shelters," Hardwick said.
Linda Hardwick with the zoo said neither people nor animals got hurt in the storm, which caused extensive damage.
Hardwick says immediately, it was all-hands on deck.
"Our keepers mobilized to the habitats. They're checking on their animals. They're getting animals inside. They're checking the perimeter fencing to make sure nothing was compromised," Hardwick said.
Hardwick said the focus now is on cleanup.
"We do have several large trees that are downed, lots of leaf litter and debris and mud throughout the zoo. And it's definitely going to take a couple of days for crews working around the clock to get the pathways cleared, the trees out of the way and whatever areas need to be repaired," Hardwick said.
Nearly two dozen trees are down, including a eucalyptus tree that crashed onto the ramada at the giraffe encounter area.
The zoo is closed and expects to reopen on Thursday.
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