Monsoon damages buildings near 16th St & Highland

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - It is a sound that has become synonymous with the monsoon, the sound of a chain saw buzzing.

Crews across the Valley are cleaning up after last night's storm.

"A couple of limbs fell on top of our roof," said Nigel Santiago.

One huge tree couldn't handle the strong winds and came toppling through the roof of a post-op care facility and nursing home near 14th St and Highland. The tree puncturing right into the attic.

"We relocated a few of our residents that were in those rooms affected, and we moved them to other rooms that were vacant," said Santiago.

Just down the road, Arizona Public Service spent all night and most of the day replacing damaged and downed power lines near 16th St & Indian School. Many transformers blew as the lines came toppling down.

"It was pretty wild, I was standing outside, and it kind of sounded like a car accident, and it kind of blinded me for a second there," said Benjamin Gilvary.

APS had to replace 12 poles, the damage leaving many spending the night without power and no air conditioning.

Others came to work and found a huge part of the facade of their building ripped away near 16th St & Highland.

"6:15 this morning we got a phone call with some pictures, looked like a disaster zone," said Sean Marquardt.

A construction team was called out to clean up and secure the area; they believe the awning on the bottom floor acted as a parachute and ripped about 30 feet of the facade right off the building.