SALT LAKE CITY — Water levels continue to rise throughout Emigration Canyon, and homeowners are exhausted from weeks of flood mitigation.
Lyska Emerson said she’s been dealing with rushing water outside her home since Easter Sunday. Since then, water levels have only gotten higher, especially within the last two days.
“We were prepping for it, we anticipated it, and then yesterday: bang,” she said.
Her home is trapped behind multiple barricades of sandbags. The driveway is completely covered by creekwater, making pulling into her garage now impossible.
“This was a stream. I thought, ‘No way this is a flood zone.’ And now it’s become a river,” she said. “In 2011, the water came up and hit the bridge, but nothing like this.”
All the way at the bottom of the canyon, water from that same creek gushes out of the culvert at Utah’s Hogle Zoo. Before this spring, the water was just a trickle.
“We are monitoring the water levels 24-hours a day. We are looking at any potential intake for the water levels,” said zoo spokesperson Rachael Eames.
The zoo had a flood drill a few weeks ago. Eames said areas like the African Savanna are most at-risk.
“It’s all hands-on-deck at the zoo. We have people who would be caring for animals, people who would be working with security as well as working with our city and county partners to make sure we have all the necessary equipment to prevent any type of water from coming into the zoo,” she said.
The Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities tweeted that residents might see water covering roadways, but the department does not “anticipate significant impacts.”
Neighbors hope next week’s forecasted cooldown will ease the high water levels.
“We don’t really know what to anticipate, how much more runoff we’re going to have and how rapid,” said Emerson.
The state of Utah just launched a new website specifically for flooding. At floods.utah.gov, you can enter your address into a FEMA flood map which will show how at-risk of flooding your home is.
The site will also feature a daily situation report every morning and provide links and updates from city and county departments across the state.
