Utah County homeowner thanks neighbors for helping keep floodwaters at bay

LAKE SHORE, Utah County — When the Spanish Fork River ran over its banks Tuesday, it could have been really bad in particular for one homeowner in Utah County.

Instead, dozens of neighbors stepped in at a critical moment to hold the waters at bay.

"It was just amazing," a grateful Dave Hansen said in an interview with KSL-TV Wednesday as he stood in his backyard surrounded by a barrier wall made of dirt, sandbags and bales of hay. "It's just an awesome community."

Hansen said he knew waters were rising in the river next to his home just off of 6400 South in Lake Shore and he began to fortify his property over the past weekend.

"What we didn't realize is it was just more than we could handle," Hansen said. "(The water) came around what we had built."

The homeowner estimated over 100 volunteers showed up to his house and worked much of the day Tuesday, supplying things like bales of hay and heavy construction equipment.

"Then it was just all hands on deck," Hansen said.

Sgt. Quin Fackrell with Utah County Emergency Management said county crews also assisted, but that volunteers were critical in keeping the flood waters away from the house.

"Yeah, obviously it could have wrecked personal property, could have wrecked part of the home if it would have got to that point," Fackrell said. "The water was right up to the owner's retention wall. They came out. They used their own equipment, their own manpower."

Fackrell said the river in the area peaked on Tuesday at around 2,000 cubic feet per second — four to five times the typical volume seen there.

"That's getting dangerous," Fackrell said. "Once it exceeds 1,700 (cubic feet per second), we start to get really nervous."

Fackrell said forecasters expected the river to recede some over the next few days with a cooldown in temperatures, but he noted that everyone was still anxiously watching and waiting to see what the weather would bring over the next month.

"If it were to turn 90 degrees like the 1983 (flood), then I think we are in trouble and this probably won't hold," Hansen said. "We're just going a day at a time."

Hansen said for now he was just grateful for the efforts of so many neighbors in making a difference for his family.

"It's a little bit emotional because there's just so much support, so much help," Hansen said.

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