Five Homes Damaged By Flood Water In Piute County Flooding
Jul 18, 2018, 6:33 PM | Updated: 9:31 pm
MARYSVALE, Utah – Marysville residents went to work, helping each other to clean out homes, yards and roadways after strong storms caused flooding like many had never witnessed.
For as small of a town as Marysvale is in Piute County, Fran Johnson said there’s no way she could imagine living anywhere else.
Mud covers a paved road in Maryvale, Utah after heavy rains and flash flooding on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.
“This is home. It’s always been fantastic,” she said. “Because we are so small, we do know each other and we are family.”
That family certainly comes together whenever a tragedy hits, as it did Wednesday morning.
Johnson and her husband came home Tuesday night to find rain like they’ve never seen before and flooding like they never expected before.
The water came down a dirt road and into their basement.
“The water was probably four feet deep or more. It’s very overwhelming – very,” said Johnson while looking at the damage. “We’ve lived in this house for 40 years and we have never had a flood.”
Everything they had in their basement was ruined.
“All my husband’s power tools, all his saws. We have two bedrooms down there, a TV room, our laundry room, our fruit room, and our food storage,” said Johnson.
Friends and family helped the Johnsons, trying to salvage what was left, scrape mud out of the garage, and pump water out of the basement.
However, as bad as it all looked, the Johnsons felt like it was no big deal. They have experienced worse things.
“It’s just stuff, like everybody tells you. It’s stuff. We lost a daughter a couple of years ago to cancer. This is nothing,” she said. “We can buy new stuff. We can’t replace her.”
Sometimes, it can be easy to miss the big picture.
“At least the house is still standing and we’re all alive,” she said.
It helps when it seems like the entire community is doing whatever needs to be done.
At least five homes were flooded from the Tuesday night rain storm.
Mud covers the roadway where flash flooding swept through after heavy rains in Marysvale, Utah on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.
Flood waters forced the closure of U.S. Highway 89 through the center of town for a short time, as water was flowing across it.
Road crews were busy in the aftermath, clearing mud off the highway. A bus line broke and will have to be replaced, and neighbors were going to those who were affected to make sure everyone had food and water.
Crews work to repair a broke gas line in Marysvale after flash flooding swept through the area on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.
“It’s just what we do,” said Mary Pratz, who checked in on the Johnson’s before delivering food to the community center. “You have to help your neighbors. I just can’t imagine not helping.”
That’s why the Johnson’s planned on cleaning, rebuilding, and staying right here.
They said Marysvale was their home.
“Oh, definitely. Yeah. We would never leave here,” said Johnson. “Never.”
