MESA, Ariz. — A microburst destroyed a mobile home in Mesa, Arizona after monsoon storms swept through.
According to KNXV, severe monsoon storms hit around the Arizona Valley late Sunday night, including in Mesa where a mobile home became a pile of rubble with debris scattered across the roadway and around where the home once stood.
KNXV said that overnight, first responders and rescue crews were working to help a woman out of the mobile home and brought her to the hospital. KNXV said the woman was trapped under the debris but her condition is unknown.
KSAZ said, per the National Weather Service, that the mobile home was flattened by a microburst that had winds blowing at 80 miles per hour
The National Weather Service defines a microburst as a “localized column of sinking air within a thunderstorm and is usually less than or equal to 2.5 miles in diameter. Microbursts can cause extensive damage at the surface, and in some instances, can be life-threatening. There are two primary types of microbursts: 1) wet microbursts and 2) dry microbursts. Wet microbursts are accompanied by significant precipitation and are common in the Southeast during the summer months.”
The National Weather Service meteorologists told The Associated Press that Mesa got about 1.5 inches of rain during the thunderstorm on Sunday, reporting that the Phoenix metro area has had an active monsoon season this year.
According to KNXV per the Maricopa County Flood Control District, power was knocked out for thousands of residents across the Phoenix metro area.
The AP said that part of the reason for the power outages was due to downed power lines in Mesa that officials report could take a few days to fix.