Washington County Residents Clean Up After Massive Flooding
Jul 13, 2018, 7:23 PM | Updated: 9:04 pm
DAMMERON VALLEY, Utah – When you live in a desert, water is always a concern. However, usually, it’s the lack of water that’s a concern. It’s certainly not what residents in Dammeron Valley experienced Thursday evening.
“I’ve been wanting a pool. I’ve been bugging my husband about a pool all summer, is the funny thing,” said Emory Criddle, who has lived in Dammeron Valley for a few years.
It’s a good thing Criddle has a sense of humor. Otherwise, the sight of her flooded basement and everything in it water damaged, just might be too much to handle.
“You either laugh or you cry,” she said. “It was pretty devastating.”
A rain storm fell onto Dammeron Valley unlike any storm Thursday night, that residents here said they’ve ever seen before.
Chief Kevin Dye with the Dammeron Valley Fire Department said 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in less than an hour.
It caused 19 basements to flood and left nearly 200 homes with some type of property or landscape damage.
“We’ve had two bad floods and then this one takes the cake,” said Dye. “We had nobody displaced or nobody hurt. Right now, we’re still not doing too bad.”
That’s right now, though. The worry for the immediate future was mold.
“Yeah, that’s why everything is up,” said John Mitchell as he walked through his basement.
Mitchell was tearing up carpets and pads, and may have to knock down a wall to try and dry out his basement from the flooding.
“We had to pull it all out,” he said.
19 homes flooded in Dammeron Valley. Residents are cleaning up today knowing there’s a chance of more rain on the way. @KSL5TV at 5 and 6. pic.twitter.com/Gb68acNuy6
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) July 13, 2018
There was also the threat of more rain in the forecast Friday evening as a small rainstorm passed through the area.
That’s why so many friends, neighbors, and even strangers helped get stuff out of the way as fast as possible.
“A handful of them are still here just helping with whatever they can do,” said Criddle. “They have been great and we wouldn’t have been able to do so much work so fast without their help.”
The Criddle family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for damages.
“We don’t usually ask for help, but help is definitely needed,” said Criddle.
That’s a financial issue homeowners were facing because of the flood. They don’t have flood insurance because the area wasn’t on a flood plain.
Washington County officials were doing damage assessments to see if there was enough overall damage to qualify for disaster relief funding.
