Thousands of residents across Arizona still without power after weekend thunderstorms

Cooling stations and ice distribution locations were set up across Arizona as thousands of residents in Eloy, Arizona City and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community dealt with the summer heat while their homes were out of power as of Tuesday morning.

As of Tuesday evening, the Arizona Public Service map listed 7,595 homes that did not have power in Southeastern Arizona.

The power in these areas was expected to be restored by 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to a tweet by APS.

APS originally planned on having power restored by 8 p.m. Tuesday, but according to APS spokesman Richard Rosales, high winds posed a safety risk to workers on bucket trucks.

The Pinal County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday afternoon held an unplanned session to declare a state of emergency due to the outages. A release from the board stated the declaration allows the county to access additional resources from the state. The county signaled to cooling and ice distribution centers and overnight shelters to be managed by the city of Eloy, APS and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

The thunderstorms that hit these areas over the weekend damaged large transmission lines, which caused an extensive impact on customers, according to Lily Quezada, a spokesperson for APS.

At the height of the storm, there were about 32,000 APS customers out of power, according to Quezada. She said the impact was a little bit more severe compared with recent years.

According to Patty Garcia-Likens, a spokesperson for the Salt River Project, at the height of the storm on Sunday they had about 39,000 customers without power. As of Tuesday morning, they were down to fewer than 500 customers affected.

Garcia-Likens said that according to the SRP distribution director, the company hadn't seen this much damage — in terms of fallen poles — in the last decade.

In the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, there were at least 197 customers without power due to power lines that were down, according to the SRP outage map. The power was expected to be restored Tuesday between 1 and 4 p.m.

The storm also damaged three mobile homes in this area, and one of them collapsed, according to Dustin Zamboni, a spokesperson for the Salt River Fire Department. A resident of one of the homes was taken to a medical center with minor injuries.

Two private prisons in Eloy were also affected by the storms and lost a main source of power, according to the Department of Corrections. Incarcerated people reported "stifling" conditions.

Monsoon aftermath: Storms across Phoenix area cause road closures and power outages

Cooling centers, ice distribution available

Arizona City and Eloy residents can go to the cooling stations in Eloy at the Toltec Middle School Gym at 3315 N. Toltec Road and Santa Cruz Valley Union High School at 900 N. Main St.

Ice was available in Eloy at Eloy City Hall at 595 North C St. and at the Eloy Fire District Station No. 2 at 4015 N. Toltec Road.

In Arizona City, ice was available at the AZ City Golf Club located at 13939 Cleator Road. Quezada said the ice was free at these distribution centers and they will be there as long as they are needed.

Customers who have been impacted by an outage that was 10 hours or longer can be reimbursed for up to 20 pounds of dry ice or 40 pounds of regular ice. Those who buy the ice can keep their receipts and fill out a form at the APS website.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an online resource on food safety guidelines following power outages, explaining food will stay safe in an unopened full freezer for up to 48 hours.

Those in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community who need a place to sleep can go to the Mass Care Shelter set up at the Lehi Community Building in the gymnasium at 1231 E. Oak St.

There is a cooling station in this building and another one located at the Indian School Fire Station. Zamboni said on Tuesday the shelters and stations were still open.

SRP customers with outages that last five hours or more can be reimbursed up to $10 for the cost of ice, according to a company press release. Customers should send an email to help@srpnet.com with the subject line “Ice Reimbursement,” and include their name, address and a copy of their receipt.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community said in a Facebook post that people can contact HHS Intake at 480-362-7350 for housing assistance. The post also said the Way of Life Facility located at 11725 E. Indian School Road in Scottsdale was assisting people affected by the monsoon with showers, food and recreation activities.

Mesa Cemetery closed after storms

The Mesa Cemetery, established in 1891, closed due to debris that the thunderstorms left on Sunday. As of Tuesday, there was no estimated time for reopening, according to the cemetery's website.

State Route 87 partially reopened

State Route 87, which had closed Sunday night due to fallen power lines and flooding, reopened between Gilbert Road and Shea Boulevard. The highway was still closed between McDowell and Gilbert roads as of Tuesday, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

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: Thousands across Arizona still without power after monsoon storms