A series of thunderstorms rolled through Grand County Friday night, bringing Moab its third flood event of the summer.
The bridge on 300 South near the dog park sustained heavy damage. Moab City Councilor Luke Wojciechowski was helping with cleanup at the bridge Saturday morning and he indicated the city might put the long-problematic bridge at the top of its list of infrastructure projects.
Wojciechowski said it’s time to ask the state to help Moab address its flooding issues, which occur with increasing frequency.
“Moab is a major revenue generator for the state and I think they would want to help us address this,” said Wojciechowski.
It appears the Powerdam was also damaged, though to what extent is not known. A huge pile of debris was stacked up behind the structure and the waterfall was dry. Instead, Mill Creek water was flowing through a pipe on the side.
(Doug McMurdo | The Times-Independent) A massive pile of flood debris stacks up against the Powerdam. The waterfall is dry and water from Mill Creek was flowing through a pipe down below.
“A training storm”
Grand County Emergency Services Director Cora Phillips said the series of thunderstorms, called training storms because they “follow like one train car after another. These were severe thunderstorms,” she said. “Thunder and lightning and lots of rainfall. We even had hail.” Phillips did not have an exact rainfall total, but it was substantial.
Phillips said the storm impacted Moab and greater Grand County from Spanish Valley to Castle Valley, where Placer and Castle creeks flashed, according to people on scene.
A damage assessment is underway, Phillips said. Crews were out Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Mill Creek reached 6,660 cubic feet per second at the height of the flooding, said Phillips.
The highest rainfall collected on Friday was 1.14 inches, 60 miles northwest of Moab, and then closer to downtown there was 0.5 to 0.75 inches closer to Moab city. The month normal for Moab city is .86 inches.
More storms could be coming.
“We’re not out of the wood until maybe early next week when some dry air moves,” said Dennis Phillips from the National Weather Service’s office in Grand Junction, Colorado. “We’ll just be watching for the threat of flooding and stronger storms across the area again today.”
(Doug McMurdo | The Times-Independent) A city worker fills a dump truck with sand that covered 300 South after Mill Creek flashed in Friday’s storm.
Flood damage survey
This is a survey that is intended for Utah residents to report damage caused by natural disasters themselves, reads a Facebook post on the Grand County Office of Emergency Management page.
“This survey will help affected cities and counties better coordinate resources and cleanup efforts,” reads the post. “Please note that this survey does not generate job applications. Contact your city’s public works office or power provider in case of downed power lines.
Here’s the link to the assessment form: www.grandcountyutah.net/1135/Flood-Damage-Information
People who want to help with cleanup efforts can also fill out a form on the same webpage. Phillips said having a list of volunteers is helpful in terms of tracking the work that’s done, as well as giving her the data needed to list the hours volunteers work.
This story was first published by The Times-Independent.