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SMITHFIELD -- Heavy thunderstorms forced a Cache County community to spend the day cleaning up. Twenty-three homes in Smithfield had some form of flooding, according to the city manager; some of them more severe than others.
Right before the rain came Tuesday night, hail knocked down tree branches and leaves, and put all that debris in the street. Then when the heavy rain came, it put all that debris into the storm drains, which then clogged up. There was really no where for the water to go except basements.
For all the scrapbook pages Nanette Despain has of her family, there are no pages quite like what her family went through Tuesday night. "I didn't know there could be that much water that could come into my house," she said.
Her Smithfield home was one of nearly two dozen homes flooded after thunderstorms went through the area, leaving behind a big mess. A canal nearly a block behind her home spilled over.
"It was literally just flowing through the house," Despain said.
Neighbors, friends and family members went through her house trying to save anything they could, mostly pictures.
"We have pictures spread out in about five different houses drying for her," said neighbor Julie Murdock.
Neighbor Brandi Neilsen said, "It's incredible what it can do. It's just disastrous. You could go downstairs and see."
Downstairs, debris goes up to the ceiling showing how high the water level was. The washer, dryer and furniture were all underwater.
The city and emergency management teams are trying to figure out just how much damage homeowners suffered. If it reaches a certain level, they can declare a disaster and get some state funding to help.
"Most do not have the insurance that's necessary to put their lives back in order after what happened last night," said Smithfiled City Manager Jim Gass.
Cleaning up the mess might take a few days, but repairing what's damaged is going to take a lot longer.
"They need help. They can't do it on their own. There's no way," Murdock said.
The good news in all this is there are no reports of anyone being injured, and neighbors say just as fast as the water went up, it came back down.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
