Just when everyone was believing the summer was a “non-soon” season tropical storm Lorena pushed up the Baja coast and contributed to a burst of moisture to push the monsoon across the finish line with a bit of panache.

Early Monday, Sept. 23, a storm burst into Fountain Hills that left nearly 4 inches of rain in places around the community before it departed. Fountain Park recorded 3.90 inches during the thrust of the storm, from late Sunday into Monday morning. Prior to Monday the monsoon had left just .61 inch of rainfall since it began on June 15.

The 3.90 inches from Monday’s rainfall plus another .20 later in the week brought the season total to 4.51 inches in Fountain Hills as the monsoon ended Sept. 30.

The downpour from the hurricane enhanced storm was reminiscent of the storm just a year ago this week that dumped nearly 5-inches of rain on the McDowell Mountain watershed, which ran downhill into the basin at Golden Eagle Park. It took much of the winter and close to $1 million to clean-up and repair the park after that.

Similarly this storm had heavy rainfall upstream from the park’s dam that collected in the basin, also flooding the ball fields.

“We were lucky [this time] the ball fields were left pretty much unscathed,” Town Manager Grady Miller said. “There is some debris and sediment to clean up in the far outfields [nearest the dam].”

He said the bigger deal with Golden Eagle Park is the mud and debris that settled out in the basin behind the dam. Much of that had been cleaned out over the past year as repairs were made.

“The good news is the improvements made in the spring really helped a lot [in mitigating storm damage],” Miller said.

The ball fields will remain closed for a few weeks to allow for drying and clean-up, according to parks’ personnel.

An engineering firm the town contacted about assessing work in washes and channels upstream from Golden Eagle Park brought in its proposal just before the storm last week.

Miller said there were a couple of areas of concern they did not address and they were asked to follow up.

“We will bring that to the council when we have something to report,” he added.

Elsewhere in town the biggest issue related to the storm is damage on Kiwanis Drive at a wash crossing.

“That area is unstable and not drivable,” Miller said. “The street will be closed about three weeks for repairs.”

Local traffic can access property on Kiwanis Drive from either end during the closure.

There were also several trees down in town parks as well as the Civic Center campus, according to Miller.

“We haven’t yet figured out what the costs will be,” he said. “We will present that information to the council and the public when we have it.”

Miller also said a number of neighbors reported street flooding and flooding on their private property. He said most of that was a result of grading, landscaping on the property and drains that had gotten clogged.

There were no reports to the town of water that got into the living area of a home, according to Miller.

While both public safety agencies were busy during the day Monday, neither the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office or Rural/Metro Fire Department reported any significant issues.

Deputies responded to 13 different reports related to traffic hazards, flooding and debris, according to MCSO Capt. Larry Kratzer.

Fountain Hills Rural/Metro Fire Chief Dave Ott only one incident in which a motorist was stranded in a wash crossing. He was assisted by an off-duty first responder from Fort McDowell, Ott said.

MCSO Sgt. Mike Lawson noted the point that people are reminded of constantly during storm season – if there is water running across a street, don’t enter.

“You never know what is under the water,” Lawson said. “The pavement may be washed out, or large debris can get you stuck.

“Don’t seek shelter in a wash; a heavy downpour can raise the water very quickly.”