Two monsoon storms that deluged a week apart earlier this month tested the town’s resources for clearing the streets of tons of debris after the washouts.

“None of us can remember anything like this damage, particularly along Shea Boulevard,” said Justin Weldy, Streets Supervisor for the town.

Each of the storms came on a Tuesday, Aug. 3 and again on Aug. 10. There were locations proximate to Shea Boulevard that collected between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of rainfall for each of the storms.

A resident on Sunridge Drive near the golf club reported receiving 2.25 inches on Aug. 10. That same storm dumped 2.5 inches at the Eagle Mountain Golf Club. The rain gauge outside The Times office on Laser Drive collected more than 1.5 inches during each of the storms.

The winds did not seem to be a factor during these storms; there was little tree damage to clean-up. A saguaro cactus fell over in the Target shopping center parking lot, probably as much from saturated ground as wind.

However, street crews were removing truck after truck of sandy desert soil from the streets and sidewalks.

Based on an estimate by Weldy, close to 100 tons of debris that had washed into traffic lanes were removed during clean-up.

Town Public Works is working with a thin staff as it is, so it is all-hands-on-deck for storm clean-up. Even Public Works Director Paul Mood had shovel in hand clearing neighborhood streets.

Weldy said that an organized plan and anticipation helps with the efficiency of clean-up operations.

During daytime hours when staff is available, they follow up immediately on reports they receive from citizens and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. On off hours and weekends all reports go through the Sheriff’s Office, which pages staff to respond, according to Weldy.

Also, staff has developed a map of known problem areas for street flooding.

“We will start responding during the event to do whatever we can in these areas,” Weldy said.

They tend to the major streets first and secondary, residential streets following.

The town contracts for its street sweeping services and that includes emergency response. Weldy said they will call the sweeper contractor while it is still raining to get onto their schedule as quickly as possible.

“We hand the drivers a list of areas to be addressed as soon as they arrive,” Weldy said.

Drainage improvements made with the reconstruction of Saguaro Boulevard seem to have made a significant impact. Areas of Saguaro where such storms have left curb-to-curb flooding were relatively free of water during and after the storms.

A past problem area at the Palisades and Saguaro intersection was water free, as well as low-lying areas along the Desert Canyon Golf Course.