Weber County locales quickly distributing sandbags; no major water issues so far
-
- Several locales around western Weber County are offering sandbags to residents to guard against flooding as spring looms. These sandbags are in Harrisville.
-
- Several locales around western Weber County are offering sandbags to residents to guard against flooding as spring looms. This pile of sand is in Farr West.
Several cities offered their residents sandbags over the weekend as a safeguard against the threat of flooding brought on by rain and melting snow, drawing plenty of takers.
“We don’t have any sandbags left but are expecting some more to be delivered soon,” Jon Call, the North Ogden city attorney, said Monday.
Even so, no one is reporting major flooding issues — not yet, anyway. Nor is anyone saying flooding is a foregone conclusion. But with spring — set to officially begin March 20 — and warmer weather in the offing, the flood watch is underway, motivated by the extraordinarily heavy snowfall this winter and deep snowpack on the mountains to the east.
“We’re being as proactive as possible to mitigate any possible flooding,” said Harrisville Public Works Director Justin Shinsel. The City of Harrisville leased a machine for bagging sand and put out the call for volunteers with the aim of creating a stockpile of 5,000 sandbags by the end of the week.
In North Ogden, Call described the attitude among public works officials as watchful and vigilant.
“Until the snow melts off, the risk of flooding is something we worry about and try to help residents be prepared for. We are out clearing drains and gutters and grates to help avoid blockages,” he said. City leaders will keep a watch on things “until the snow leaves the mountain.”
Harrisville officials, like others in Weber County, put the word out last week to residents about the availability of sandbags ahead of rainfall last Friday and warmer temps over the weekend. Fortunately, Shinsel had no major water issues to report, though a few homes seemed to get wet basements due to sump-pump issues or their location in low-lying areas.
Similarly, Farr West Mayor Ken Phippen reported no major problems, same as Call. City officials in Farr West offered sandbags, getting many takers, as did North Ogden public works officials.
There’s still time, though, and plenty of snowpack yet to melt and flow down the Wasatch Front to the Ogden and Weber rivers and other waterways that wind west toward the Great Salt Lake. “We’ll be keeping an eye out until it all comes out from above,” whether the sky or the mountain tops, Phippen said.
Eli Johnson, the Weber County emergency management technician, is focused for now on the potential flooding threat in the Ogden Valley.
He’s cautiously eyeing the National Weather Service forecast for rain, a 90% chance Tuesday evening going into Wednesday. Falling rain can’t soak the still-frozen ground, raising the specter of home flooding in some areas.
The time to start worrying in western Weber County, where rivers and creeks carrying snowmelt converge on their way to the Great Salt Lake, comes later when snow starts melting in earnest. “We’re still a few weeks away from that,” Johnson said.
Sandbags in North Ogden are useful in diverting water away from homes and buildings into drainage channels and stormwater infrastructure, Call said. In more low-lying areas like Harrisville, Shinsel advises placing them along creek banks near homes.