West Chandler neighborhood faces major cleanup after storm damages up to 30 trees in local park

CHANDLER, AZ — It was a busy day of cleanup for crews and neighbors in a West Chandler neighborhood after Tuesday night’s storm.

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The city estimates 25 to 30 trees were lost during the storm in a park near Rural Road and Chandler Boulevard. City crews and neighbors spent the day clearing uprooted trees, broken branches, debris and more.

“I mean everything was everywhere and we didn’t think it was that bad until we went out and looked at what it did in the backyard, we didn’t even come out and see any of this,” said Wendy Salem who was staying with her sister Tuesday night.

“It was just a total shock, a total surprise when all of this happened,” said Bob Hanson, who has lived in this neighborhood for over 30 years.

Hanson says he has never seen anything like what came through Tuesday night.

“As soon as I started to open the door to step out, the wind doubled almost instantly, and so I, I barely got the door shut, and I run inside and my wife was yelling at all of us, get away from the windows, cause everything was crashing down,” Hanson said.

He came outside Wednesday to broken branches twisted together, a smashed windshield after tiles fell off his roof, a branch stuck into the side of his home, and large branches that came down and barely missed his house in his backyard.

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“We just thank god that it didn’t hit the house,” Hanson said.

“For Chandler it is pretty much just this west Chandler neighborhood that got hit the hardest,” Parks Superintendent Brandon Putman said.

Putman says the park lost large shade-providing trees, including a 40-year-old tree that was likely planted when the neighborhood was built.

“We will have to continue to assess the damage, continue to assess the trees that are not just uprooted but the ones that are damaged beyond repair and develop a planting plan for this specific park,” Putman said.

He reminds residents to check for loose or broken branches in their trees and get them removed. The city’s sandbag station is still open. Sand was added Wednesday ahead of more potential storms.

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