Most of the western United States has experienced a wetter-than-average winter. This has led to flooding in several states, most notably in California.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac also predicts a wet, albeit mild, winter for the western half of the United States, with most of Utah experiencing moderate rainfall rather than snow.
In preparation for potential flooding in the Cedar Valley, Eagle Mountain City provides residents with sandbags to help divert the flow of water when it becomes necessary to protect residential and business property.
Due to several consecutive storms between mid-December and mid-January, the City has provided around 1,000 sandbags already this year, according to Larry Diamond, Storm Drain supervisor for the City.
Diamond is anticipating more flooding in the coming months due to heavy snowpack, frozen earth and consistent rains.
“I’ve done this for the last 18 years, and every year that starts like this, we’ve always had a higher amount of flooding,” says Diamond.
Because the City’s supply of ready-to-go sandbags is already low, the Stormwater department is organizing a community work project to fill sandbags on Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Community Development Building.
“Properly filled and placed sandbags can act as a barrier to divert moving water around, instead of through, buildings,” says Diamond.
The plan for this community project is to fill between 2,000 and 3,000 sandbags to have on hand in case the need arises, whether in Eagle Mountain or to help a neighboring city.
Residents in need of sandbags can reach out to the Stormwater department on the 24-hour emergency hotline: (801) 789-5959, option 4. The Stormwater department will then arrange a time for residents to come and pick up the sandbags.
To further prevent flooding, Diamond recommends that residents check their downspouts for clogs or debris, and to make sure that pipes are diverting water away from the house.
“When I go out to a site,” says Diamond, “I recommend people actually, instead of just percolating the water in the backyard, try and get the downspouts out to the road as quickly as possible.”
This is to prevent flooding to the owner’s property as well as the neighbor’s property. City code requires that residents maintain all stormwater on their property, so by quickly diverting water into City-maintained storm drains, residents can mitigate the risks of code violations, according to Diamond.
The Stormwater department also asks residents to check storm drains and alert the City if they see any clogs or debris so City crews can clear them as quickly as possible and prevent street flooding.
The sandbag community work project will take place on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 10:00 a.m. at the Community Development building, 2565 Pony Express Pkwy.
If you have questions or have a group that would like to participate and cannot make it on Saturday, please contact Larry Diamond at ldiamond@emcity.org or 801-4040-6630.
