Flights diverted to LV as thunderstorm hits Phoenix

Monday, July 15, 2002 | 9:32 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

PHOENIX -- A severe thunderstorm cut power to much of Sky Harbor International Airport, and flights were delayed or diverted Sunday night as crews cleaned debris from taxiways and surrounding roads.

Incoming flights were diverted to airports in Las Vegas and Tucson. Sky Harbor spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said the airport likely would not return to a normal flight schedule until sometime today.

"This is going to have a domino effect for quite a while," she said.

As of about 11:30 p.m. Sunday about 15 flights, mostly America West, had been diverted to McCarran International Airport, airport spokeswoman Debbie Millett said.

While she could not say how many additional people flooded the terminals, the added load did not cause any delays for inbound or outbound flights at McCarran, she said.

"That's (11:30 p.m.) our busiest time, but there were no significant delays," Millett said.

At Sky Harbor, at least two parked planes suffered some damage when high winds in Phoenix -- estimated at up to 50 mph by the National Weather Service -- pushed a Boeing 757 and an Airbus into surrounding equipment, Luber said.

Luber added no one was aboard the planes at the time and there were no injuries.

Luber said two of Sky Harbor's three terminals lost electricity when the storm hit, but power was quickly restored by backup generators.

The storm dropped an estimated 2 inches of rain on the Phoenix area in about 90 minutes, according to the weather service.

Several trees and metal signs were blown onto roads leading to the airport, and debris also blew onto taxiways.

Luber said no flights could take off or land until the cleanup was complete. She said she could not say how many flights would be affected.