Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: This tree off 1000 West in Pima uprooted and collapsed on the residence’s carport, destroying it completely.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – It was a one-two punch Thursday evening for those in Pima as the area was hit with an extreme microburst shortly after 6 p.m. and then was deluged with a severe thunderstorm later that evening.
Numerous trees were uprooted and multiple cases of property damage was caused by the microburst that saw “tornado-like” wind speeds. Playsets were displaced, basements and homes saw flooding, one resident’s porch blew back over onto the house, a business had part of its roof blown off, and, of course, trampolines were thrown about throughout neighborhoods, with one ending up in the utility lines off 400 West. A second round of heavy rain then caused more flooding and further issues into the night, including water damage to the Pima Public Library.
Large trees fell at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints highway chapel and 100 West just north of Center Street. The Pima Fire Department was on the scene at that tree as it extended into the roadway. They used chainsaws to cut it down to size and remove the obstacle.
Pima Town Manager Vernon Batty was out scoping for storm damage, and Public Works Director Jimmy Lofgreen was inspecting the damage and directing resources. Between 6:10 and 6:40 p.m., the area saw extremely high winds and torrential rain of at least an inch. The initial storm area was focused in Pima and outstretched into Bryce, where one resident had six corrals damaged, and west to the Fort Thomas area.
Not surprisingly, the electricity went out due to downed power lines and emergency workers from Graham County Electric Cooperative sprung into action. Along with the Pima/Fort Thomas area, power was also lost south of Safford. Unofficially, at one time there were an estimated 5,600 or so people without power.
Crews worked during the lull and restored power to about half the people within the first couple of hours. However, a severe thunderstorm then hit the area from Fort Thomas through Central and slightly into Thatcher. That storm hampered relief efforts, and some didn’t have power restored until 2 a.m.
No property seemingly had it worse for tree displacement than the two residences (one owner) near the intersection of 1000 West and 200 North. A very large tree uprooted and demolished one residence’s carport. Luckily, the tenant wasn’t home at the time and the carport was empty. However, another large branch from another tree also landed directly on the house.
Over at the main residence, a large tree snapped and collapsed on top of a Polaris Ranger UTV. None of the residents were harmed in the storm and subsequent damage, and the owner told the Gila Herald he was thankful for that. His insurance agent, Vaughn Grant with Country Financial, was already on the scene before the Gila Herald. After assuring of his assistance, Grant said he had a “few” more folks to check up on and rode off to his next appointment.
Pima Town Manager Vernon Batty advised that Pima Public Works employees will be gathering organic storm debris from the front of properties. The town asks you to move the organic debris to the front of a property so employees can pick it up on Monday.
