Heavy snow leads to roof collapse concerns near Bear Lake

RICH COUNTY, Utah — As the snow keeps coming, Bear Lake residents are asking property owners to check on their cabins and summer homes.

Mike Leonhardt, Garden City Mayor, said several roofs have already caved on cabins, homes, and structures, including one over the weekend.

“That’s the worst one I’ve seen on a house, that the whole house is just collapsed, and the walls have just went out,” Leonhardt said.

And there’s enough new snow there since these pictures were taken Sunday that it was tough to get a decent view the next day. Leonhardt said there are a lot of vacation homes and cabins that still need a visit from their owners.

“They’re just not coming up and getting the snow off, and so that’s one of our concerns, and we’re trying to get the word out, you know, that we’re in a different world over here, and we’ve just got a ton of snow that just continues to come,” he said.

Public works employees are helping where they can, but they can’t be everywhere. Leonhardt said with ice dams forming, some homeowners may find that water is already leaking into their attics and walls.

“All the snow in the mountains, it’s got to go somewhere. And when we reach those temperatures, that water is going to come, and so we are really preparing for flooding within our community,” he explained.

Like much of Utah, this is the most snow Bear Lake has seen in decades.

“And so we just don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re expecting the worst,” Leonhardt said.

He said a sandbag station is ready for people around the county at Garden city’s Heritage Park. There are also crews clearing the snow from canals to make room for the runoff, but new snow keeps filling in.