Storm floods roads, cuts power in Valley - CBS 5 - KPHO

Thunderstorms continued to roll through the Valley on Thursday morning, dumping heavy rains that flooded roadways, stranded motorists and caused power outages.

The National Weather Service said three-fourths of an inch to 1 1/4 inches of rain fell in the region since midnight Thursday.

A system moving across the state from the west brought heavy rainfall into Payson and Winslow, as well.

Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service Co. reported some of their customers had to deal with power outages.

SRP said more than 1,000 customers were without power between 51st and 27th avenues and Northern to Camelback Road. Another outage near Scottsdale Mountain near Fountain Hills affected 500 customers. 

APS reported that power to all its customers had been restored as of 8 a.m. Thursday.

Flash flooding was frequent in areas, and there is a threat of continued flooding through Thursday evening.

The driver of a medical transport van and her wheelchair-bound passenger had to be rescued when she drove around barricades and their van became trapped at a Scottsdale intersection in the flooded Indian Bend Wash.

All unbridged crossings of Indian Bend Wash would remain closed until the water subsides, according to Bruce Dressell of the Scottsdale Traffic Management Center.

Scottsdale also reported 14 trees were blocking streets or lanes of traffic, and had them all cleared by morning.

Three lanes of eastbound Interstate 10 in west Phoenix were blocked due to mud flowing onto the highway, and localized street flooding is widespread.

An Arizona Department of Transportation official said a wall at I-10 at 75th Avenue, where mud flowed a PetSmart warehouse Tuesday, was a concern since it is being shored up with sand bags and a repeat mud flow could happen. He said they were working with the business to address the retention run-off and plans for repair.

Road closures were announced in Tempe and Pinal County.

Tempe announced the following restrictions:

• Southbound Mill Avenue between Curry Road and Rio Salado Parkway
• Rural Road between Rio Salado Parkway and Playa del Norte
• Southbound Rural Road at Elliot Road
• Elliot Road between Mill Avenue and Lakeshore
• Westbound Guadalupe Road at Myrtle Avenue
• Northbound Rural Road at 8th Street
• Eastbound Baseline Road at Country Club Way

In Pinal County, the following roads were closed as of 8 a.m. Thursday:

San Manuel Area  

• River Road from Tom Rhodes Ranch Road to Redington Road - San Pedro River running  

Mammoth Area  

• Copper Creek Road from Bluebird Street to River Road - San Pedro River running  

Casa Grande Area  

• Selma Highway from ChuChu Road to Trekell Road - Underwater 
• Storey Road from Tweedy Road to Curry Road - Washed out 
• Kleck Road from Signal Peak Road to Tweedy Road - Underwater  

Stanfield Area  

• Barnes Road from Pala Road to Stanfield Road - Santa Rosa Wash running 
• Miller Road from Murphy Road to Stanfield Road - Santa Rosa Wash running 

Russell Road from Peters Road to Interstate 8 was reopened in the Stanfield area.

A semitruck carrying produce rolled on I-10 near Baseline Road, and water pooled on a number of Valley freeways causing accidents and delays.

Rainfall totals across the Valley included:

• Baseline Road at 47th Avenue - 1.97 inches
• Carefree Ranch in Scottsdale - 1.06 inches
• Cave Creek - 1.18 inches
• Deer Valley (Phoenix) - 0.63 inch
• Glendale - 0.39 inch
• Paradise Valley - 0.75 inch
• Peoria - 0.71 inch
• Phoenix - 0.43 inch
• Surprise - 0.63 inch

The wet conditions will keep Valley temperatures in the double digits for the next couple of days.

The weekend is expected to be drier and warmer with plenty of sunshine.

Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.