Several homes destroyed by monsoon storm in Buckeye Valley
BUCKEYE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The Buckeye Valley Fire Department says the first call for help came around 6:15 p.m. on Thursday night when a family of four was trapped inside a collapsed home, like this one.
The fire department says about 15 homes were destroyed during the storm that residents said lasted a good hour.
Buddy Starkey was standing inside his Buckeye Valley home when he shot this video. He says the winds outside were blowing at least 70 miles per hour.
"They were blowing so fast you could barely see 20 feet out," he said. "It was scary. We had to go into the closet for a while because of all the windows."
"Eliasar Mazias also lives on Rainbow Valley Road. His roof blew off across the street and his son's arm is a little bruised and battered from the storm.
"We ran in, we saw part of the structure right here lifting and then it flew off," he said. "I shut the door. It was hard. I kind of beat up my arm a little."
The worst of the damage was across the street where debris from an unrecognizable home scattered everywhere, and neighbors say they aren't surprised by what was left.
"It was horrible, it was horrible," one neighbor said.
Starkey has lived here for 14 years and says he's never seen anything like this and is grateful it wasn't worse.
"Clean it up all tomorrow when the power comes back on," he said.