Salt Lake City, Centerville Declare States of Emergency
Sep 8, 2020, 7:32 PM | Updated: 8:15 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Salt Lake City and Centerville City declared states of emergencies after a day of destruction from high winds across much of northern Utah.
The wind ripped trees from the ground, blew roofs off homes and buildings, and led leaders in several school districts to cancel classes for Wednesday.
Salt Lake County is considering a state of emergency and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said Governor Herbert is also considering a statewide declaration.
A state of emergency generally gives the declaring government access to additional state and federal money and resources to deal with the crisis.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall signed that emergency declaration for the city Tuesday afternoon, in part because the strong and damaging winds will continue overnight with predicted gusts of more than 70 miles-per-hour.
“The destruction isn’t over and we’re concerned that the winds that we’ve been enduring since very early this morning have loosened some trees that haven’t yet come undone, could be impacted with the increase in the winds that are projected for later this evening.”
Having said that, Mendenhall warned on Twitter that people should stay home overnight and stay away from areas with damage.
She also tweeted several locations for emergency shelters with the city including the Sorenson Unity Center at 1383 South 900 West.
Additional locations offering emergency shelter:
🔹Christ United Methodist Church at 2375 E. 3300 S.
🔹Northwest Recreation Center, 1255 Clark Ave
🔹LDS Church at 808 Roosevelt Ave— SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) September 8, 2020