By Chris McDaniel
KAWC News
About 73 Arizona Public Service customers in Yuma County remained without power as of 10 a.m. this morning following a widespread power outage that began at about 2 a.m.
About 2,200 APS customers in Yuma County lost their power at the onset of the storm, officials said.
The outage was caused when more than 80 utility poles in South County were damaged by high winds associated with a thunderstorm that swept through the area, Yessica Del Rincon, an APS spokeswoman, told KAWC.
“We got about 1,100 customers back on within an hour," Del Rincon said. "Currently we have 73 customers without power, but our crews are working as quickly and as safely as possible to be able to restore power for those remaining customers.”
“Some of the work happens after a monsoon storm that rolls through," she continued. "Once the crews determined that location [and] assess the damage, they clear much of the storm debris and they'll also bring in new poles and then they'll start to install new poles and wiring.”
“So, this is a lot of the work that happens and takes place after a monsoon storm hits," Del Rincon said.
“At the height of the storm, we had more than 80 poles down and damaged, but as of now we have 70 poles down and our crews are working to quickly, and safely as possible, to get most of that equipment back up," she said.
The outage impacted APS customers along 32nd street, between Avenue B and near South Arizona Avenue.
Additional outages were reported in the Fortuna Foothills and in South County below MCAS Yuma.
A shelter has been set up at the Yuma Civic Center, located at 1440 W Desert Hills Dr. in Yuma.
Kofa High School is closed today to students as a result of the outage.
APS customers can receive reimbursement for purchasing Ice or dry ice, up to 20 pounds, by APS.
For more details, visit the APS website.