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DRAPER -- "We want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas," joked Jerry White, as he and his wife filled sandbags provided by Draper City Saturday morning.
White was among a handful of homeowners who filled sandbags as the water table and flood threat rose. Residents and officials fear another long, wet spring could bring a repeat of last year's extreme runoff and flooding throughout the Salt Lake Valley.
The swift water caught many residents off guard in 2010. This year, they're getting ready for it.
We'll watch the weather. Hopefully things won't warm up too quick.
–Brad Watson
"We're watching it closely but we've got a great emergency place," said Jeanette Chidester, director of community relations at Canyon Creek Assisted Living Center in Midvale.
The creek along the assisted living center at 7235 Union Park Avenue was calm Saturday, but Chidester knows that can change in an instant.
"Last year, it seemed like it was pretty low and we had a pretty warm day and it was to the top pretty quickly," she said.
That was last June. Volunteers quickly stepped in and averted disaster. They built walls of sandbags, which spared the place from all the rushing water.
"It was pretty bad last year. It was the first year it actually flooded in the five years that I've worked here. First time we had to sandbag and it got pretty high, probably we had two to three feet of sandbags and it was pretty close to the top of that," Chidester said.
This year, the center will sandbag lower-lying areas ahead of time. Some homeowners in Draper are prepping for potential flooding too.
"We just had our basement finished and we don't want any water," said White.
Potential flooding is on the minds of officials in Salt Lake County too. They want to avoid what happened last June when Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks reached historic highs. The rushing water did some damage and threatened homes.
Since then, the county has invested more than $2 million for improvements for flood prevention. Residents say that's top of mind now.
"We'll watch the weather. Hopefully things won't warm up too quick," said Brad Watson, Draper City public works streets and storm water manager.
"If it gets real warm, I think we better all watch out," said White.
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon will announce the county's plans to prevent flooding during a press conference on Monday.
Email: syi@ksl.com
