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MILLVILLE, Utah — The beautiful weather northern Utah has received the past couple of days could cause some ugly flooding in Cache County.
The Blacksmith Fork River near Hyrum is nearing flood stage. Right now the water level is 6.7 feet — that's 96 percent of flood stage.
Cache County Emergency Management knew for months that flooding on the Blacksmith Fork River was coming. Now they're they're doing everything they can to prepare, just in case.
Crews worked all day Friday to remove debris from under a bridge in Millville. "The water had actually plugged up underneath the bridge, and so it was running across the road," explained Lynn Lemon, a Cache County executive.
A main road into the small town has now become a flood zone as the river overflows. Nearby homeowner and rancher Mont Jessop says it hasn't been the best for his land, but he's glad it's not worse.
"It's not doing me any good," he said. "But I was watching the news about the houses in Mississippi, neighborhood after neighborhood under water, so my acre under water really don't amount to much."
This could be just a sign of what's to come over the next few days.
"We're just really waiting to see what's going to happen," said Rick Williams, with Cache County Emergency Management.
Related:
Flood Watch River Flow Tracker
Keep track of water levels with KSL's exclusive Flood Watch 2011 River Flow Tracker.They're waiting, but not without some preventative measures. County workers and homeowners are trying to do their part, which is partly why things haven't been worse.
"We're crossing our fingers," Williams said. "A lot of work has been done, a lot of mitigation efforts. I think we've averted a lot of damage because of the extra efforts that people have put into preparing for the flood waters that are coming down."
Waters that will continue to come down as many of us finally enjoy that warmer, sunny spring weather.
The road leading to Porcupine Reservoir near Avon is also closed again and will likely stay that way through the weekend.
According to Cache County Emergency Management, as long as the waters stay at right around flood stage or below they will remain hopeful that there won't be any major problems over the weekend.
Email: manderson@ksl.com
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