Washington County Flooding II
I just toured some of the devastation along the Santa Clara River with St. George Mayor Dan McArthur, Chief of Police Marlon Stratton, and the City Council. It is stunning. While the Virgin River again was high, it was manageable (because the Bloomington area worked very hard last night sandbagging and shoring up low areas). The Santa Clara, though, which typically is a dinky little creek, was booming -- raging like the Virgin River at floodstage.
I stood in one street looking out at a raging river where 4 houses had stood just this morning. No sign of them was left. No foundation, no yard, not a stick. Just river. The Mormon Bishop of the area, Lonnie Clove, told me that this morning he sat on the back porch of one of the houses looking out at the river beyond a long expanse of lawn. He and the owner talked about evacuating but thought they were only talking about it out of a super abundance of caution. That house went into the river this afternoon, then another, another, another. I watched two others succumb just now as the river kept cutting toward the neighborhood. At last count, Bishop Clove had lost 10 houses in his ward boundaries and was busy coordinating evacuation efforts for several others.
The thing that I think is not coming through on the television reports is how the houses are being lost. For the most part, it's not that the houses were built on low areas that are filling up. Rather, it is that the river is shifting course significantly, moving hundreds of feet in some areas. Sandbags, boulders, concrete abutments, nothing can stop it from moving. Fifty-foot tall trees are floating down the Santa Clara like little sticks.
The rivers are dropping, but the clean-up and repair work will be significant. St. George City alone estimates infrastructure damage over $20,000,000.
After taking a tour of the area, Gov. Huntsman declared a state of emergency for Washington County. If FEMA agrees it is an emergency, 75% of the recovery costs -- for just the damage to government-owned infrastructure -- will be reimbursed. Tomorrow I'll meet with Governor Huntsman to further coordinate the State's future efforts in helping the victims and local governments recover. At this point, no one could accurately complain that Gov. Huntsman has been anything other than marvelous to us -- bringing down key personnel, like Commissioner Flowers, Emergency Services Director Nannette Rolfe and the National Guard.
I stood in one street looking out at a raging river where 4 houses had stood just this morning. No sign of them was left. No foundation, no yard, not a stick. Just river. The Mormon Bishop of the area, Lonnie Clove, told me that this morning he sat on the back porch of one of the houses looking out at the river beyond a long expanse of lawn. He and the owner talked about evacuating but thought they were only talking about it out of a super abundance of caution. That house went into the river this afternoon, then another, another, another. I watched two others succumb just now as the river kept cutting toward the neighborhood. At last count, Bishop Clove had lost 10 houses in his ward boundaries and was busy coordinating evacuation efforts for several others.
The thing that I think is not coming through on the television reports is how the houses are being lost. For the most part, it's not that the houses were built on low areas that are filling up. Rather, it is that the river is shifting course significantly, moving hundreds of feet in some areas. Sandbags, boulders, concrete abutments, nothing can stop it from moving. Fifty-foot tall trees are floating down the Santa Clara like little sticks.
The rivers are dropping, but the clean-up and repair work will be significant. St. George City alone estimates infrastructure damage over $20,000,000.
After taking a tour of the area, Gov. Huntsman declared a state of emergency for Washington County. If FEMA agrees it is an emergency, 75% of the recovery costs -- for just the damage to government-owned infrastructure -- will be reimbursed. Tomorrow I'll meet with Governor Huntsman to further coordinate the State's future efforts in helping the victims and local governments recover. At this point, no one could accurately complain that Gov. Huntsman has been anything other than marvelous to us -- bringing down key personnel, like Commissioner Flowers, Emergency Services Director Nannette Rolfe and the National Guard.
posted by steve u. at 1/11/2005
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