Home lifted off foundation, but no injuries reported after tornado touches down near Williams

The tornado that touched down in the Junipine Estates community north of Williams Monday afternoon damaged homes but left no injuries, according to officials.

Between eight and 10 homes were damaged due to the EF-1 tornado but no injuries were reported, according to Coconino County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jon Paxton. Some sheds and fences were blown away or destroyed by the winds that reached up to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.

"Something this strong is pretty rare," Paxton said.

Robert Trotter, fire chief of High Country Fire Rescue, said the tornado's path was about a mile. He said besides the strong winds, there were also horizontal rain and hail.

One of the affected homes was lifted off its foundation and moved 10 feet, leaving one family displaced, Trotter said. The family had relatives in the area they could stay with.

Several RVs were turned over, roofs were damaged, trees were "busted down" and power poles were split in half, Trotter said. A few propane tanks moved and were leaking propane but they were monitored and secured to make sure nothing blew up.

"It was just really intense storm ... lots of trees knocked down. But we're just thankful that nobody got hurt," Trotter said.

Paxton said it is unclear how many people were displaced due to the damages.

"We are saddened by the impact to this community and the impact to the residents who have lost their homes. At what we thought would be the end of the 2022 Monsoon Season, we must now once again pull together as a community to help our neighbors in need,” said District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan in a news release.

The Red Cross opened a shelter for affected people, which closed Tuesday morning because no one stayed overnight, said Melody Birkett, the regional communications director of the Red Cross.

Trotter said as of Tuesday afternoon there were about three homes still without power but crews were working on restoring it.

“Our thanks go out to our first responders for their swift response to this unexpected weather emergency. As with previous natural disasters, the County will be here to support our community members however we can,” Ryan said in the news release.

Storm activity across Arizona

The Sedona area also received heavy rainfall, hail and flash floods that left more than 30 hikers stranded on Cathedral Rock Trail on Monday, according to the Sedona Fire District. The hikers were across a wash that is usually a dry riverbed, the fire district said in a Facebook post.

Firefighters assisted the "cold, wet hikers" back to safety at the trail head.

Yavapai County also had storm activity with heavy rainfall and hail, specially in the Prescott area, said Paige Swenson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. Swenson said there were strong winds with gusts up to 60 mph reported at the Prescott airport.

There were also reports of roads that were closed during the storm due to flooding and debris flow, according to Swenson.

A dust storm rolled into the Valley on Monday with strong winds and gusts between 40 and 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

The winds knocked down a tree in downtown Phoenix.

Reach breaking news reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at Angela.CordobaPerez@Gannett.com or on Twitter @AngelaCordobaP.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: No injuries reported after tornado touches down near Williams