Gunnison recovers after floods, mud remains


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GUNNISON, Sanpete County — Mud everywhere. That was the aftermath of Wednesday’s rain in Gunnison Valley. It was a downpour, the likes of which most people said they had never seen.

Gunnison resident James Baxter said that once the storm arrived in the area, “It kept raining for about 30 minutes, and then all the water started coming.”

But before it stopped raining, the water started running down the streets.

“It came really hard, didn’t let up, then it came hard again,” said Jim Jensen of Centerfield. “Mud puddles all over my yard.”

The rain was gone Thursday, but the mud has remained.

“We had a river going through here,” said Gunnison’s Steve Grimshaw. “And we just rediscovered where all of the water used to run before there were homes here.”

While there is a lot of cleanup left to do, residents like Grimshaw said the damage could have been much worse, especially considering water was flowing down the streets.

Wednesday evening, authorities reported about 100 homes had been flooded. Damage to the inside of homes was limited to a few with water in the basements. Most of the remaining damage was restricted to yards and landscaping.

Even when the sun was shining Thursday, officials were not letting their guard down, concerned another May thunderstorm could result in another day of flooding.

“The ground is so saturated, any type of precipitation is going to cause us some problems,” said Chief Brett McCall of the Centerfield Police Department.

Local authorities are surveying the damage and are in discussions with state officials to see which resources and aid are available to residents. Police credit the quick response from volunteer firefighters and members of the community who jumped in to help.

“We had a great turnout of community members and neighbors,” said McCall. “Without those people, it certainly could have been a lot worse.”

It's a rainstorm, and a community effort, that won't be forgotten.

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Sam Penrod

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