Fire, Flash Flood, Mudslide

Ok so if you remember reading here & here about the Dump Fire that hit our neighborhood in late June this is the next disaster that our neighborhood has had to deal with that was in turn caused by the dump fire.

Last Saturday night there were flash flood warnings all over Utah. Our family was in Idaho for my first 5K (more on that in another post) and we were watching the news. First off it hit Tooele County and when we checked without awesome neighbors there was not sign of rain in Saratoga Springs but about a 1/2 hour later we received a text that it had hit our neighborhood. There was a lot of rain and quarter to golf ball size hail stones.

(FYI all pictures and videos I’ve stolen from neighbors since we weren’t here)

Shortly after we were informed of the storm we started seeing our neighborhood emergency Facebook page come alive. There were request form several people in our ward that live about a mile Northwest of us for aid. They called in all the help they could. They sandbagged the streets and house property’s well into the early morning hours. Redwood road was closed the Mudslide started up on the burn scar of Lake Mountain and then rushed through the homes, roads, golf course clear down into the Utah Lake. We’ve heard story after story of homes basements filling up to the second floor in under 5 minutes. The videos we’ve watched are absolutely unimaginable and horrifying.

Sunday morning Church in most of our stake was canceled and the Bishops asked every able body to come and assist in the clean up. The news said on Sunday and Monday(Labor Day) that approximately 5000 volunteers came to help aid those whose homes had be almost destroyed during this massive mudslide. It is now almost a week since it hit and they are still requesting aid and there are fundraisers popping up everyday. A bank account for donations has been set up and a blog called Saratoga Springs Relief (which I have linked on the side of our blog) has been letting people know what the needs of these 11 families are.

Shortly after the fire David and I looked into flood insurance for this reason specifically and our agent told us they didn’t offer flood insurance to our area. Only one of these 11 families had flood insurance but their insurance refused to help because there was mud in the water not just water. The rest of the families had no flood insurance. These families are all going to need a lot of help to get their homes cleaned and back into order. The blog I talked about earlier will let the public know what is needed and where and how to donate.

The flyer below is for a flood fundraiser if you can go and support these families I know that it will be greatly appreciated. They will also have a bake sale there that I sent cookies and zucchini bread to. I know there will be a lot of delicious foods there to buy. I’ve also heard there may be things like face painting and other fun activities for families to enjoy and help the flood victims. Please share this information with everyone you know.

The video below shows how amazing people are when families are in great need. Again we were out of town but all I keep hearing is how thankful the families are to all who came and helped clean up and who are still giving so many hours to help with fundraisers and clean up.

2012 Mudslide in Saratoga Springs, Utah