Monsoons wreak havoc on Chandler neighborhood

CHANDLER, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The southeast valley was hit hard by at least one microburst that tore through multiple neighborhoods on Tuesday night.

Seven power poles snapped in half just like toothpicks in Mark Heltmach's east valley neighborhood.

"Sounded like a war zone," he said. "Power goes out at 9:15, rain coming into the garage, hailing coming into the garage, as well as the front door."

Another neighbor witness trees getting ripped from the streets.

"Trees are all over the street, either ripped out by the roots, or either blown in half," Alan Beyerle said.

One neighbor said although they were scared, his dogs did a good job protecting him.

"It was very noisy," Gary Studebaker said. "I had two dogs and one was on the bed; he's scared of everything, but even the brave one was up there too, saying 'protect me, protect me.'"

One tree in the neighborhood that was taken down by the microburst has a trampoline hidden underneath it.

"The lightning show was immense; it was incredible," Gary Studebaker said. "I had the blinds open and it was an incredible show."

Although a veteran of monsoons, Alan Beyerle said this storm scared him.

"The lights started to flicker and then we lost power, but I've been through a lot of these storms before and that was eerie and it was pretty scary," he said.

Mark Heltmach is just relieved that it's over, and that he can use the air conditioning again.

"It was 88 degrees plus in the house and it was a little miserable," he said. "Windows open in August; go figure."

A whole lot of damage, but everyone here is grateful that no one was seriously hurt.