HUNTSVILLE -- Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Dale Bridges threw up his hands.
He, other officers, three jail work crews and volunteers had spent the last few hours Saturday night trying to sandbag the rising Ogden River along U.S. 39. Behind him was a wall of sandbags meant to help control the roaring river, one that was at least three bags high.
"Within three hours or so," he said, checking his watch about 9:30 p.m., that, too, will be under water.
The Ogden River rose a foot above flood stage by Saturday evening, with the warm temperatures melting the snowpack. By 6:30 p.m., law enforcement was fast at work trying to control the river.
But "right now, it's like trying to stick your thumb in a dike," Bridges said.
About eight cabins near Mile Marker 29 and, later, another 12 or so homes near the Eagle Campground were in danger of flooding.
There had been a pre-emptive sandbag defense around the river, but the water washed it away, Bridges said.
Gary Kirchmann, who has a cabin behind the Eagle Campground, still has a lot of sandbags left over from the 1983 flood.
"But I have no sand," he said, standing yards away from the roaring river that threatened to flood his cabin, which sits right on the bank. He had been waiting for more to arrive.
Just after 9:30 p.m., his saving grace arrived: tons and tons of it in a truck pulling up to Mile Marker 24.
He, his family and a jail work crew went to work filling the bags to protect what homes they could.
But a pool of water was growing behind them, submerging the eastbound lane of U.S. 39. If that new problem was not solved by either his people or the Utah Department of Transportation, law enforcement might have an accident on their hands, Bridges said.
On top of that, the large amount of debris coming down the rising river could wash out the bridges, he said.
It was panning out to be a long night.
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