Cate’s Column #10

A powerful monsoon storm slammed into my neighborhood three miles northwest of Bouse Sunday evening, July 11th, 2011. Wind toppled tall trees, smashed windows, blew out metal garage doors, plucked coolers from rooftops, ripped awnings from houses and tore off a roof from a stick-built home.

“The wind was blowing the rain so hard it hurt,” reported that homeowner. “I went inside the garage to watch all the lightning and I saw something fly past my window. Then something much larger went flying past – I didn’t realize at the time it was my own garage roof! I didn’t even hear it go. The wind also took the roof off the kitchen.”

The roof is now a mangled mess of metal and lumber down hill from the home.

Aluminum panels littered the neighborhood, some flying for acres before wrapping around trees. Wind flattened several carports and uprooted many Mesquite and Palo Verde trees. Storage sheds and their contents were strewn everywhere.

Power poles along Highway 72 snapped, leaving electrical transformers dangling by wires or smashed on the ground.

As is usual for monsoon storms, the electricity goes out with the first big thunder blast. This time the power went off at 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon and was restored about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Kudos to the APS crew! Surveying the widespread jaw-dropping damage, I expected to be without power much longer than 36 hours.

Out here, no electricity means no running water (limited washing and no flushing – ew!), no air conditioning or telephone; much less modern delights such as television or the Internet. Taking nothing for granted!

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Cate Mueller is a web designer, editor, reporter and photographer in Bouse, Arizona. To visit her website,click here.