Concerns mount after heavy rainfall threatens historic Camp Floyd

FAIRFIELD, Utah County — For a place all about what happened in the past, it was what happened Monday that really got Clay Shelley's attention.

"It just did not let up at all. It was a four-hour rainstorm right on top of Camp Floyd here," Shelley said.

Shelley is the park manager at Camp Floyd State Park in Fairfield, in Utah County.

"The largest military base in the United States from 1858 to 1861," he said with a smile.

That heavy rainstorm brought almost an inch of rain and hail in just a few hours.

A lot of the water flowing down the nearby mountains ended up in the little creek behind the park.

Normally, the small creek is maybe 2 inches deep. With all the rain flow, though, it flooded and covered the road.

"There was a good 6 feet of water flowing down through here and a good 30 feet wide," Shelley said.

The big concern was water getting into the buildings at Camp Floyd State Park, especially with the rain not giving up.

"Absolutely. I was off yesterday, and when I got word it was raining like that and storming, that was the first thing I had to do, was come out here and make sure," Shelley said. "These old historical buildings with wood-shaped roofs, you have to make sure the water is not getting in on top of the collections, on top of the displays and stuff, because that could shut us down."

The small museum features a lot of what makes Camp Floyd such an important historical military site, as well as the Stagecoach Inn building right across the street.

"This history is definitely worth preserving and telling," Shelley said.

Finally, the storm retreated, and so did the creek.

Although no damage was done to any buildings this time, Shelley is hoping recent history doesn't keep repeating itself.

"It seems like every day we get something like this," he said.

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