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SALT LAKE CITY — While plenty of snow made skiers and snowboarders happy in 2011, it led to big worries as the Summer started to heat up.
A snowpack, reminiscent of conditions that led to 1984 floods pushed county and city leaders across the state to prepare.
"We think with about six of these pumps, that we can divert up to 150 cfs (cubic feet per second)," said Lance Peterson, director of Weber County Emergency Management, during a July interview with KSL News.
"We really have a head start with our sandbags," Salt Lake County Public Works director Scott Baird said in a June interview. "We have our heavy equipment in place."
While a cooler Summer and proactive measures helped, there were still several problems. A levee break in West Warren, left county workers scrambling to minimize the damage.
Overly-saturated soil brought its own share of troubles. A 15-year-old girl was killed as the car her father was driving fell into this sinkhole on state Route 35 in Duchesne County.
A landslide east of Cedar City destroyed parts of state Route 14. "Obviously when we got up here after daybreak, the landslide was a lot bigger than we anticipated," Jim McConnell, an engineer with the Utah Department of Transportation, told KSL in October.
With flood damages nearing $13 million across the state, Gov. Gary Herbert >declared a state of emergency, asking for Federal Aid.
Then towards the end of the year, parts of Utah were hit hard by wind. With gusts breaking 100 miles per hour on Dec. 1, much of Davis County became a disaster area overnight.
Several semi trucks were pushed over during the storm, rooftops were torn to pieces, and then there were the trees: dozens, upon dozens of them toppled into homes and cars, taking down power lines.
But out of all the mess, Utah communities proved again their ability to come together. Most recently, a massive storm cleanup that could have taken months wrapped up in just a fraction of the time.
"It's been one of the most impressive events I've witnessed in my life, to see the way this community has come together," said Kaysville Mayor Steve Hiatt.
Email: manderson@ksl.com
