Several people displaced, homes flooded in Price after severe thunderstorms
Jun 21, 2024, 10:10 PM | Updated: 10:28 pm
PRICE — Several people in Price were left with flood damage after a severe thunderstorm moved in Friday afternoon.
“Around three in the afternoon, the alarm went off on our phones, we got the alarm, and different individuals first responders and Price City workers went to certain areas,” said Price City Mayor Michael Kourianos.
Kourianos said most of the damage was left north of the city, which flooded basements and wiped out several apartments like Leanna Freeman’s.
“I was freaking out,” she said.
Freeman said she received a call from her roommate while she was at work. Large amounts of water rushed through her apartment, forcing her roommate and her son to jump out the living room window to escape.
“This is my home. I have nowhere else to go,” she said.
Her next-door neighbor, Cristine Kamensky, is grateful for the volunteer firefighters who pulled her and her dog, Cousteau, to safety.
“It was rushing so fast,” Kamensky said.
Kamensky had just returned home from work when the storm moved in. The water was so heavy it pushed her front door wide open, flooding her entire apartment.
She said she and her dog hopped on the bed to try and stay dry.
“The bed was stable for a while, and then it started floating,” she said, in tears, describing the incident to KSL TV. “It was really scary.”
Kourianos said the city added and updated infrastructure to prevent future flooding thanks to federal funding several years ago after a previous storm left the city with major damage. He said that the impact would have been much worse if those updates had not been made.
Freeman, Kamensky, and another family were left displaced. Kourianos said he’s working to get in touch with the Red Cross to help.