Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SPRING LAKE — The Utah National Guard said the Spring Lake area is now its No. 1 flood mitigation priority.
Since early Wednesday, Utah County public works crews have been working to clear up a muddy debris slide caused by heavy overnight rain on 3620 West off Highline Canal Road. The Highline Canal in Spring Lake filled with more than 4 feet of mud overnight, according to a tweet from Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon. The canal was empty before the storm hit, he noted.
Guard members began helping with the cleanup effort.
While KSL hasn’t been alerted to any home damage in the area yet, it was a close call for one resident.
“I had sandbags up here on the corner because that’s where I thought we were going to get it,” said George Brinkerhoff, who woke up to a backyard full of mud. “That’s where we got it last time. We didn’t need them there; we needed them around back.”
“We got a phone call, I guess around midnight, that said you need to get up and get out of there,” Brinkerhoff added. “We got up and got dressed and by the time we got out here, the mud was already to here and was running down through our field and into our backyard.”
Thankfully, Brinkerhoff said only about a cup of mud made its way inside his home.
“We had a pretty good waterfall... well, 'mud fall' down those steps," he said.
After 38 years living in Spring Lake, he said he hasn’t experienced anything like this.
“Sixteen years ago, we got mud on our front lawn, but not anywhere else,” he said.
While he was worried about more forecasted rain, he didn’t think there was much more he could do.
“If the mud flows again, we're good,” Brinkerhoff said. “Well, as good as can be. You can see we aren’t very good.”
Small tornado touches down in Cedar City
