SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 13, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Dozens of people voluntarily evacuated from their residences overnight Friday and into Thursday, after rapidly rising floodwaters threatened their Sugar House area homes.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall posted a video on social media about 2:30 a.m. making residents aware of the voluntary evacuation efforts for approximately 40 residences.
“Residents who live on Glen Arbor Street, both north and south sides, as well as residents who live on the south side of Blaine Avenue between 1500 E. and 1600 E. and residents of Downington Circle should be on alert and may wish to evacuate their homes at this time,” Mendenhall’s post said.
“The voluntary evacuation is due to the possibility a nearby culvert drainage pipe could clog, causing the nearby creek to overflow….”
By 6 a.m. it was estimated about one hundred people were evacuated with a number of them taking shelter at the LDS church located at 2215 S. Roosevelt (1445 East).
So far, efforts to channel the water away from homes has been successful.
Multiple agencies posted a video Wednesday when Emigration Creek began to overrun its banks.
Salt Lake City Emergency Dispatch said a reverse 911 call went out to residents at 7:09 p.m. in the area of the Wasatch Hollow Park flooding at 1631 E 1700 S, advising evacuation of residences. The automatic notification went to those within a half-mile radius of the park.
A posting on Facebook just after 8 p.m. by the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, as well as county public works and eight others reads, “A shout out to all the crews working hard to protect people and property at and below Wasatch Hollow, along Emigration Creek, and anywhere else where the water is flowing high around Salt Lake County!”
Thursday morning Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson declared a state of emergency due to spring runoff. A draft of the declaration is below:
