Towering wall of dust rolls through metro Phoenix, leaving thousands without power

By ROSS FRANKLIN and HALLIE GOLDEN

PHOENIX (AP) — A powerful storm kicked up a towering wall of dust that rolled through metro Phoenix on Monday, darkening the sky, blinding drivers, knocking out power and grounding flights at one of the nation’s busiest airports.

Bernae Boykin Hitesman was driving her son and daughter, ages 9 and 11, home from school when the storm, known as a haboob, arrived late in the afternoon in Arizona City, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix.

She had to quickly pull over as the storm engulfed her car. “I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand outside,” she said.

Boykin Hitesman said she could taste the dust and feel the strong wind rattling her car until it finally passed about 15 minutes later.

“I was nervous,” she said. “My kids were really, really scared, so I was trying to be brave for them.”

A haboob is a dust storm pushed by the wind produced by a weather front or thunderstorm and typically occurs in flat, arid areas. Heavy rain and wind followed Monday’s haboob, delaying flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and causing some damage to a terminal roof.

“Crews have been identifying leaks and attempting to clean up water where it has collected in passenger areas,” Heather Shelbrack, the airport’s deputy aviation director for public relations, said in an email.

More than 15,000 people lost power, most in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, according to PowerOutage.us.

Richard Filley, a retired university professor who lives in Gilbert, said the dust storm caused the trees to sway and knocked bird feeders to the ground. Fine dust found its way through “every little crack and space” into his house, he said.

“The windstorm part of it, I’m glad it’s gone,” he said. “You look at the photos of haboobs and they are a spectacular natural phenomenon. They are kind of beautiful in their own way.”

Phoenix has been drier than usual during the monsoon season, while parts of southeast and north-central Arizona have had a fair amount of rain, said Mark O’Malley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

“But that’s typical for a monsoon, very hit and miss,” he said.

The forecast for metro Phoenix calls for a 40% chance of rain Tuesday before drying out, O’Malley said.

Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca contributed reporting from Flagstaff, Arizona.