Imagine waking up after a storm to discover that massive construction pipes have taken over your neighborhood. People living in parts of Arizona won’t have to stretch their imagination too much to picture this scenario, since many of them are living it right now.
AZ Family is reporting that a monsoon is to blame for the destruction that hit areas of Arizona on Sunday night, including the Avondale neighborhood, where giant culvert pipes blew out of a construction area and directly into a nearby neighborhood, where they remained the morning after the storm.
While the pipes were definitely an eye-catching leftover from the storm, they were hardly the only damage seen across the region after the clouds cleared.
In fact, people in the hardest-hit areas of the state were still without power the following day, while other neighborhoods were still trying to dig out from under downed trees. Here’s what we know.
Monsoon Brings Heavy Rains and Winds to Parts of Arizona
At least eight massive metal pipes were found in the Rio Crossing section of Avondale, according to AZ Family. Many of the pipes only stopped blowing when they came to rest against the homes in the neighborhood, and aerial views show them scattered across the neighborhood.
The 80-mile-per-hour gusts are responsible for bringing the pipes into the residential area, according to 12News, which interviewed a resident who said he found out about the pipes when his mom called in a panic. “She was saying that there’s a bunch of things that are hitting the walls—a bunch of these silver things,” 16-year-old Emmanuel Armenta told the reporter. “I was just making sure everybody was OK first before anything.”
While Armenta revealed that his family was safe after the storm, the same couldn’t be said for their home. “They’re about 20 feet—you can’t even move that,” he said of the pipes.
Monsoon Season Runs Through September in Arizona
If you’re not from the region, you may be unfamiliar with the strength and destruction monsoons are capable of. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, a monsoon is actually a change in wind direction.
In some places, that means that heavy rains will be associated with this weather pattern, bringing downpours that can last for long periods of time. However, in other places, monsoons can bring drier and warmer weather.
Unfortunately for wind-battered Arizonans, there are still almost two months left of monsoon season, which means residents may not have seen the last of this destructive weather system.