MURRAY, Utah -- A massive cleanup effort is under way in Murray after a canal wall broke and water flooded into several homes in the area.
The breach occurred near 1209 West and 6700 South and left nearly two feet of water in nearby streets Saturday evening. By Sunday, most of the flooding had subsided, and local residents volunteered to help their neighbors deal with the aftermath.
“I think just about every single neighbor is out here, and then the local ward mobilized. It’s pretty amazing,” said Scott Goodman, whose home is just feet away from where the canal wall broke. “The whole basement was completely full from the floor to the ceiling.”
Volunteer Jeff Crawford said neighbors formed an assembly line along the breached wall to help remove mud and debris from the area.
“We’ve been cleaning off sidewalks, roads--just about everything that’s gotten mud on it, trying to get it cleaned up," he said. "It looks pretty good from what it did this morning."
Residents said they have been told by the North Jordan Irrigation Canal Company the company would have insurance adjusters in the neighborhood on Monday to assess the damage. A representative for the company, Boyd Simper, said Saturday the company has a $13 million insurance policy that will most likely cover the damages.
Next door to Goodman, the Browns had about 5 feet of water in their basement.
“The backyard is trashed,” John Brown said.
Brown said more than 100 neighbors came and went from his property all day, cleaning up what they could.
“Not the way I want to meet my neighbors," he said. "This isn’t my plan. But everybody is just coming together."
The canal has been shut down since Saturday, and North Jordan Irrigation Canal Company officials said they have built two dams in the area. They plan to have an engineer test the soil to help them determine what caused the bank to collapse.
