Severe thunderstorms and flooding have left several motorists stranded and thousands without power in the northwest Tucson area Wednesday evening.
It started at around 3 p.m., when the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for the entire Tucson area, along with most of southern Arizona. From there, several flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings popped up in the region, particularly toward the northwest.
KGUN9 received several reports of trees down, buildings damaged and strong hail near Marana and Oro Valley, just east of I-10. Then, Northwest Fire reported three stranded motorists near Tortolita.
Thornydale Road near Cortaro. Heavy rain, hail, wind, and low visibility. pic.twitter.com/GFEtD99y3B
— Northwest Fire (@NorthwestFire) August 22, 2018
Stranded motorist Camino de Oeste and Snow Leopard. 3 more reported at Thornydale and Overton, Linda Vista and Highline, and Calle Maverick and Cerius Stravenue pic.twitter.com/6TaLegvxVv
— Northwest Fire (@NorthwestFire) August 22, 2018
First responders said all four motorists were rescued without injuries.
Pima County officials said the following intersections were closed, as of 4:30 p.m.:
- Magee Road at Firethorn Avenue
- CDO Wash at Overton Road
- Overton Road west of Shannon Road
- Linda Vista, from Camino de Oeste to Thornydale
TEP crews, meanwhile, are battling power outages from Northwest Tucson to the Catalina Foothills. At least 583 homes and business are without power, according to the power company's website. TEP estimated one section of outages to be fixed by 10 p.m., while another was as late as 12:30 a.m. Most of the outages still don't have an estimated time of repair.
The power outage even forced the Northwest YMCA to close. The club promised to reopen once power is restored.
As if the flooding and rain weren't enough, Golder Ranch Fire District had to deal with a palm tree on fire just off Magee Road.
Video from the palm tree fire today just off of Magee. Thankfully this was resolved without incident. #GRFDAZ #CommunityFirst pic.twitter.com/X9R0O4n4y2
— Golder Ranch Fire (@GRFDAZ) August 22, 2018
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