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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Five years after a devastating southern Utah flood, a construction team is finally replacing a bridge washed away by the Santa Clara River.
In January 2005, the Valley View Drive bridge was one of five structures pushed off its footings by flooding on both the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers. All five were closed.
The floods also destroyed at least 15 homes on the Santa Clara and left about 25 others condemned.
Local communities received about $65 million in federal funds to help recovery efforts. The money was used to clear water channels, strategically line sections of the river with thousands of tons of rock, rework flood strategies and plant riverbank vegetation.
Experts initially said the flood was a 100-year flood event, meaning there was only a 1 percent change of such a flood in any given year. Those opinions have since been downgraded. Now officials say they fear that a similar, or larger, flood could occur again.
"A true 100-year storm, depending on how fast it comes down and where it hits, hopefully we could contain it," said Ron Whitehead, Washington County Public Works director. "But if it came down in the wrong place and too fast it could cause rather extensive damage."
According to county Emergency Services Director Dean Cox, county-wide emergency planning has greatly improved since 2005. Representatives from county and municipal governments meet monthly to discuss issues and coordinate plans for their respective jurisdictions.
Planners have also gained a better understanding of flood zones, Cox said. In 2005, water didn't rise up and enter homes, but instead cut out land from underneath structures. Cox said planners now try to identify erosion zones where rivers may move and cut away soil.
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Information from: The Spectrum
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