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ALPINE — Residents of an Alpine neighborhood are being allowed back into their homes after floodwaters forced them to evacuate.
Alpine City issued an order lifting all evacuations due to the storm. About 100 people were evacuated for about 30 minutes. Heavy rains also caused mudslides in American Fork Canyon and flooding in areas, particularly throughout Utah County.
The pounding rain even caused a two-hour delay of the BYU-Texas football game at Lavell Edwards Stadium while fans, who were told to leave their seats, huddled in their cars or anywhere that would keep them dry and safe from lightning.
One Alpine family said when the storm hit water immediately came rushing down the side of the mountain.
"It was like a black monster of lava — it just came," said homeowner Vickie Reay.
She said her son took video with his cell phone as water, mud and debris spilled over the wall in front of their home and into their yard.
"It was 100 feet wide and it just got bigger and bigger and just picked up more momentum," Reay said.
Vickie Reay's house on Box Elder Drive is in the path of the Quail Fire burn scar in Box Elder Canyon. This is the fourth time she's dealt with flooding since that fire burned more than 5,000 acres, she said.
"This is worse. It's getting worse every single time," Reay said.
The inside of Reay's home was spared but fire officials said about 12 homes in Alpine were flooded. Three debris basins at the base of Box Elder Canyon are also overrun, they said.
Major flooding in Utah County prompted the call for volunteers to fill sandbags to prevent further damage.
City officials sent a out the message via twitter: “Sandbag help needed. Anyone available to help fill sandbags please come to the City Shop at 181 E. 200 North. Bring your shovel.”
Scores of Alpine residents were forced from their homes following heavy rainfall. The National Weather Service released a report that indicated 0.75 inches of rain fell in 15 minutes at the Alpine burn scar. Flooding also occurred in areas of Provo, Orem and Payson in Utah County, though no evacuations were reported.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office reported that state Route 92 was shut down at mile post 10 in American Fork Canyon due to road debris from mudslides. Crews worked deep into the night to clear the roadway. Officials said one vehicle was struck by a boulder. It was towed away. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, 150 people were stranded at the Timpanogos Visitors' Center during the closure.
Two hikers were also stranded in Draper's Corner Canyon. The women, both in their 30s, had gotten lost but were able to call for help before the battery in their mobile phone died.
Neighbors in a Payson neighborhood had to dig a ditch to try and drain water away from their flooded homes.
“Our neighbors just had huge puddles everywhere," said Payson resident Jodi Beck. "We had neighbors with buckets trying to bail them out. It had gone up and over into their window wells within about 20 minutes.”
City crews with backhoes arrived to help, along with many neighbors and volunteers.
"It just kept raining and coming and didn’t stop,” Beck said.
Payson Mayor Rick Moore said the city’s drains couldn’t handle so much water that fell so quickly.
“The debris and everything else has come down and plugged off a lot of the storm drains. That funneled more water down this way," he said. "So when you stop the water coming one place, it makes it worse at another place.”
Moore expects the storm caused thousands and thousands of dollars in damage to areas of his city. Hundreds of volunteers came to assist. About 6,000 sandbags were handed out.
In other storm-related news, about 2,500 people lost power for a time during the tumultuous weather — 1,124 in Salt Lake City and 1,399 in Orem.
The weather forecast for Sunday should be a little less aggressive, according to KSL meteorologist Lynae Miyer. She said warm temperatures early in the day on Saturday combined with storms coming up from southern Utah resulted in Saturday’s heavy rains and strong winds of up 60 mph.
“It won’t be as warm,” Miyer said of Sunday. “Temperatures will stay cooler and it will (likely) be more of a rain event with a few thunderstorms mixed in. High around 83 degrees.”
Contributing: Devon Dolan
