Tempe residents displaced after microburst, as recovery efforts continue

TEMPE, Ariz. - One of the areas hardest hit by the severe weather last week was Tempe.

The backstory:

A microburst swept through nearly a week ago, leaving dozens displaced, as they remain out of their homes. Although recovery efforts are underway, there is still a lot of work to do.

The Sentry Apartments off Mill Avenue saw some of the worst of the storm's damage. 

Why you should care:

Resident Pablo Minchez said he's never seen anything like the microburst. 

"There's like water coming in through the windows. Everything is rumbling, trees are falling down," Minchez said. 

Six days later, there are areas that still look like a war zone at the Sentry Apartments. Neighbors are still working to get back on their feet after downed trees split apartments in half.

"I've seen apartments that have like the living room wide open. You, I mean, like no walls, no windows. So ours was just mainly the services that got cut off. And then the next unit over, I think they got evacuated because they're loss of roof," said Minchez. "So some of the buildings basically got split in half on the top, again, like broken walls, broken staircases, no roofs."

Local perspective:

Many residents were left without power, water or gas for days. 

"By the third day, we already had to empty out our fridge, like, throw everything out because, you know, everything costs perishable," he said. 

Minchez said he had to shower at the gym and throw out everything in his fridge. 

"It's getting expensive, like eating out all the time," Minchez added. 

He finally has power and water back, but no gas, so he and his family have been living off microwavable meals and food from the Red Cross.

"But Red Cross has actually been providing cooked meals for everybody out here. So that kind of helps," he said.

What they're saying:

"We're providing lunches and dinners every day through Friday," Jim Harms, the Assistant Director of Operations with the American Red Cross said. "We try to get out here as quickly as we can, assess the damage and find out what the needs are and then mobilize our teams and bring in what's needed at that time."

Minchez said help is needed.

"We're talking like 10, 15 buildings that got severe damage, probably, you know, two units per building. We're talking like 30 families that need to get rehoused. So I'm sure they're trying to figure out their life right now," Minchez added.

What you can do:

The City of Tempe is urging anyone dealing with damage to save every receipt so that they might be able to get reimbursed when applying for assistance. 

Tempe also damage assessment forms for residential and business reports to be filed, which gives the city the best possible chance at getting federal funds for the recovery effort.

Map of the apartment location that experience weather damage.