Washington County Flooding
We're flooding. The Virgin River is raging like old-timers have never seen. While 6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) is flood stage (above Hurricane), the Virgin is flowing at 9- to 10,000 cfs. For some individuals and families, this will be tragic; there is one confirmed death and many houses have flooded; collectively, though, it looks like we'll be okay. As local TV coverage was interspersed with world coverage of the tsunami, it helped maintain perspective.
I went to emergency response headquarters at the County and, then, St. George City. Public Safety Commissioner Bob Flowers is here, and the Governor is coming down tomorrow. We talked with the Governor on the phone. He is concerned and supportive -- which is about all we can ask at this point. Dean Cox, with the County, is in charge, and doing a fine job. The efforts appear to be well-coordinated and focused. It was amazing to be in the response centers and hear all the false, panicked leads that were coming in. I won't repeat them, since they were false anyway; but, there were some whoppers. A big part of handling a situation like this, I observed, is quelling all the rumors floating around.
There's been a fair amount of property damage. Water lines and roads are out in several areas. In Gunlock, power is out, a bridge is out, and potable water is in short supply.
The State's meteorologist reports that tomorrow should bring more of the same (but not quite as much). After tomorrow midnight, we should start drying out. And "No," he reports; we can't proclaim the end of the drought. It will take years of normal or above-normal rainfall to replenish the big reservoirs and aquifers.
UPDATE (1/11/05): Here's a Spectrum article on the flooding. It's early Tuesday morning, and it's raining lightly.
I went to emergency response headquarters at the County and, then, St. George City. Public Safety Commissioner Bob Flowers is here, and the Governor is coming down tomorrow. We talked with the Governor on the phone. He is concerned and supportive -- which is about all we can ask at this point. Dean Cox, with the County, is in charge, and doing a fine job. The efforts appear to be well-coordinated and focused. It was amazing to be in the response centers and hear all the false, panicked leads that were coming in. I won't repeat them, since they were false anyway; but, there were some whoppers. A big part of handling a situation like this, I observed, is quelling all the rumors floating around.
There's been a fair amount of property damage. Water lines and roads are out in several areas. In Gunlock, power is out, a bridge is out, and potable water is in short supply.
The State's meteorologist reports that tomorrow should bring more of the same (but not quite as much). After tomorrow midnight, we should start drying out. And "No," he reports; we can't proclaim the end of the drought. It will take years of normal or above-normal rainfall to replenish the big reservoirs and aquifers.
UPDATE (1/11/05): Here's a Spectrum article on the flooding. It's early Tuesday morning, and it's raining lightly.
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1 Comments:
You hate to see it flood in St. George, but then again you know how much we have needed the rain. I think about the original settlers to the area and how it rained for 40 days when they got there. They must have had a heck of time with nothing but red dirt and make shift tents. I hope all is well in Dixie tonight and the week to come, but I also hope the rain helps in long run.
Thanks for the updates Steve.
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