Communities in La Paz County are cleaning up in the aftermath of storms that came through the area during the past week. Heavy rains and high winds brought flooding in the eastern sections of the county and caused power outages in the area.

While structures were damaged, there were no injuries or deaths reported as a result of the storms.

The storms led to flooding in the communities of Wenden and Salome on the eastern side of the county after Centennial Wash overflowed. The La Paz County Sheriff’s Office set up an incident command center Thursday afternoon, and emergency services and public works personnel were sent to the area to assist residents and minimize flooding.

When evacuations became necessary, many residents were taken to American Red Cross shelters set up at Salome High School and Salome Elementary School. Red Cross spokeswoman Terry Kiest said the organization had 195 people registered at the shelters at the height of the evacuations.

By Saturday evening, Kiest said the residents had been tod they could return home, and the Red Cross was consolidating the shelters at Salome High School. She said the organization expected it would still have some people staying overnight. She said the Red Cross would stay in the area to provide services to people who need them.

La Paz County Sheriff’s Lt. Linc Gilbert said floodwaters had largely receded by Saturday evening. However, Centennial Wash had not.

The main highway through the area, U.S. 60, was closed Friday due to flooding. Early that morning, the waters of Centennial Wash had gone over the U.S. 60 bridge in Wenden. By Saturday afternoon, the flooding had receded to the point where the highway was reopened.

In addition to U.S. 60, Gilbert said Vicksburg and Salome roads had also been reopened. The road’s crossing of Centennial Wash was severely damaged by a flood in 2000. Gilbert said the structure of the rebuilt crossing was sound after this flood, but some of the asphalt had been damaged and there was some debris on the roadway.

Gilbert said he did not know if Salome Road was open in Maricopa County.

Arizona Department of Health Services officials issued food and water advisories to the residents of the Salome-Wenden-Vicksburg area. They urged all residents to boil water before it is used for drinking. They also urged residents to throw out any food that had come in contact with floodwaters and to follow the adage, “If in doubt, throw it out.”

Gilbert described the situation in Wenden as bad, but he said it was not as bad as the flood in October 2000. He said there was not as much damage this time, and county crews and local residents were better prepared.

Gilbert, who also worked the Wenden flood of 2000, said that one hit suddenly, while they had plenty of advance notice there could be a flood this time around. He said county crews were much better prepared and trained this time. Among other things, they were able to track rain levels in the mountains around Wenden and were better able to monitor Centennial Wash.

“We were ahead of the game this time,” Gilbert said. “It’s still bad, but not as bad as it was.”

Other communities in the county reported some wind damage, including downed tree limbs. Ehrenberg residents said they saw a tornado pass over their community.

Ten utility poles along U.S. 60 near Gladden in western Maricopa County were blown down by high winds around 1:10 p.m. Thursday. Power was cut off to Salome, Wenden, Vicksburg and Brenda until 2:15 p.m.