SAFFORD — Sunday’s storm was a “worst case scenario.”
That’s according to Jeremy Michael, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson. Michael said the storm that uprooted trees, smashed business’ signs and knocked down power poles was the result of two storms coming together.
“There was a cluster of thunderstorms over the White Mountains, heading southwest toward Safford. Then another storm developed to the northwest of Safford. The cells merged and it became a worst-case scenario,” Michael said.
The storm resulted in multiple microbursts, with multiple wind gusts in excess of 50 miles an hour, the greatest being 68 miles an hour recorded at Safford Airport, and quarter-sized hail in some locations.
Michael said the National Weather Service is still reviewing data to determine total rainfall as a result of the storm, but he said weather stations in multiple areas recorded wildly different totals — from .07 inches at Cactus Flat to 0.9 inches in the area of 8th Avenue and Relation Street.
While some property owners were dealing with wind damage, the primary issue Saturday afternoon and into the early evening for the majority of Gila Valley Residents was a lack of electrical power due to the storm.
“We don’t have a dollar estimate of the damage yet, but the storm did knock down about six transmission poles and at least 10 distribution poles in the east part of the Valley,” said Phil Cook, CEO and general manager of Graham County Electrical Cooperative.
Safford City Manager John Cassella said the bulk of damage for the city involved the electrical system, and the Utility Division is in the process of determining the extent of the damage.
“Out Electric (Dept.) guys were out there all day Sunday, Monday and today,” Cassella said. “We also had some Sanitation (Dept.) guys show up to help, too. We had some guys really hit it out of the park”
Cassella said the storm did an estimated $40,000 in damage to city infrastructure.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:53 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, with information from the City of Safford.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, with the damage estimate from the City of Safford.
