Lehi Families Cleaning Up After Flooding

LEHI, Utah — It’s a good thing Kevin Steele has a sense of humor.

After the day he has had, many people wouldn’t be smiling.

“It’s the geek version of the man cave,” he said with a laugh, while showing off his basement.

However, his basement was flooded and all the items he used to have in it were taken to his kitchen table.

“I mean, we were standing in three to four feet of water,” he said.

All that water came from nearby Dry Creek after a rainstorm was just too much at about 1 o’clock Friday morning.

Thanks to debris-clogged storm drains, the water had nowhere else to go.

“It doesn’t take long once the ditch is plugged for things to overflow and go where they shouldn’t,” said Wade Allred, who is Lehi’s streets department director.

City crews began clearing debris from drains early this morning.

Once they did, the water level began to decrease.

“What we saw last night was about half volume of flows we can actually handle,” said Allred.

Bryan Stewart and his family live next door to the Steele family.

They, too, spent the day cleaning up.

“A lot of this stuff got hit with water and I don’t know if we can salvage it,” said Stewart, while taking a bucket of water outside.

It will certainly take time to fix it all — but the good news is, it can be fixed.

“My wife and my kids and our dog, they’re more important than the things,” said Steele.

The area near Lehi Elementary School has flooded before, and because of it, families who live here have flood insurance.

They’re just hoping the debris is cleared because more rain is expected Friday evening.

A family friend of the Steele’s has set up a GoFundMe account* to help with immediate costs.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.