The monsoon storm that hit the area along the Beeline Highway (SR87) south of Fountain Hills on July 17 produced a microburst that caused more damage than has been seen by officials in more than 10 years.

The storm flattened a residential home at Salt River and toppled more than 100 power poles, including major transmission line towers.

Kathleen Mascarenas, spokeswoman for Salt River Project, said the damage impacted services provided by three utility companies, SRP, APS and WAPA. There was no immediate estimate of damage costs.

Dozens of SRP distribution and transmission line crews began working around the clock at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17. By mid-day Tuesday, there were fewer than 200 customers without power. That was down from nearly 40,000 at the height of the storm.

Mascarenas said according to SRP’s director of distribution maintenance, this is the most damage SRP has experienced over the past decade from a single event. There were 106 poles taken down by the storm.

The storm and resulting damage resulted in several traffic collisions along the Beeline between Fountain Hills and Mesa on Sunday night, however none were described as serious. In one incidence a semi was blown onto its side. Firefighers had to rescue a woman from the wreckage of her home in the Salt River community. She was hospitalized, but reportedly not seriously injured.

Although closure of portions of the Beeline disrupted traffic in and out of town for a week following the storm, Fountain Hills escaped the brunt of the damage. A weather station at Fountain Park recorded wind gusts of 40 miles per hour, but no rainfall from the storm.