ENOCH, Utah — Nearly a month after Enoch City was devastated by flooding, the city is still in recovery mode, city manager Rob Dotson said.
“It is easy for the rest of society to forget and move on to the next news cycle, the next hurricane, the next item, where there are still people here dealing with the impacts from a month ago,” he said urging people to not forget his community.
READ: Enoch under state of emergency as 10 percent of population deals with flooding aftermath
The August 1 storm caused about $1.6 million of damage to the city’s roads, drainage, and infrastructure, as well as $4-$6 million in damage to people’s personal property, Dotson said based on estimates. The city declared a state of emergency joining Cedar City and Iron County after a series of summer storms left behind widespread damage.
The city's remaining hopeful for federal aid, Dotson said.
“We are waiting for the FEMA application that went to the Department of Emergency Management and the State of Utah to be reviewed and once that is done and a decision is made by the governor and his advisors to declare a state of emergency for the state, then we would be added to that based on the storms that came through many different places during the months of July and August,” he said.
About 200 homes in Enoch flooded during the storm, including John Brown’s basement. There was about 3 to 4 feet of water in the basement, he said. It appears no one had flood insurance.
“We lost thousands of dollars within five minutes when the flood came rushing into our home,” he said.
READ: Enoch community comes together to clean up following devastating flooding
Now, more than four weeks later, there’s been a lot of progress with help from the community, Brown said.
“Somebody donated our sheetrock, we’ve had people donate the electrical and the community stepped up and there’s been discounts on the furnace or the water heater or windows,” he said. “Friends who have come in and worked until 11 at night just helping us take out mud and put trim in.”
While everyone’s recovery is at a different place after the historic storm, the community has stepped up in every way to help, Dotson said.
“We learned firsthand that Enoch city is not the type of community where people just look out for themselves.”
Through the devastation, Brown said he has seen many miracles and learned some amazing lessons.
“I have learned what kindness really means. Before the flood I would sign up for a service project and go put in my two hours. Okay, good, I did that service project,” he said. “Now, after the flood I have seen people who have friends of ours, I have a friend that is coming over today he is going to work in my basement while I am at work and he’s given hundreds of hours to help and so many others and so I have learned little lessons like what kindness really means.”
If you would like to donate financial assistance to flood victims, click here.
If you are interested in donating goods or services contact Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson at rob@enochcity.org or 435-586-1119.
