NATION IN BRIEF : ARIZONA : Rainstorms Spawn Flooding in Phoenix

Violent storms soaked parts of Phoenix with almost as much rain as it usually gets in a year, flooding more than 20 homes and stranding motorists on car rooftops. Authorities said hospital emergency rooms had treated a small number of people for minor injuries, but the exact number was not immediately known. Telephone and electrical service was temporarily cut off to large swaths of the city and its suburbs, which have a population of about 2 million. Craig Ellis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said the West Central and Glendale sections were swamped with 6.2 inches of rain from Thursday night to Friday afternoon. Phoenix’s average annual rainfall is 7.2 inches.