OGDEN, Utah — With parts of Utah already experiencing flooding issues from the snow melt, officials say runoff in certain areas is actually changing the landscape of the state.
"One of the things that we're seeing is that we're seeing new creeks and new rivers and new waterways that have been created from the high volume of melt off because of the high temperatures immediately after a large snow pack," said Lt. Will Farr with the Ogden Police Department.
The new waterways that have seemingly sprung up out of nowhere add more to the plate of city officials who are attempting to mitigate potential disaster.
Ogden says it is monitoring the rivers and creeks and has 2,000 full sandbags at the ready, with 40,000 bags that still need to be filled. Volunteers are ready to help fill those bags from three piles of sand.
But even when those sandbags are full, they won't be distributed immediately.
"We're kind of hearing some of the other cities are running into where they gave out their sandbags and when they needed it, they kind of were struggling," said Vincent Ramos, Ogden's Public Services Operations Manager. "We don't want to go down the same road."
This year's massive snow totals were a heads up to officials that spring flooding was not only possible, but expected.
"This is a little bit different from some of the other years just for the fact that we know we've had high snowfall. We know we have a big snow pack. So we knew this was going to be an issue for us," explained Kenny Miller with the Ogden Fire Department.
While the Ogden and Weber rivers both appear to be near their peaks, the city says it is coordinating with water companies that are raising levels and will continue to monitor the situation.
Ogden believes their planning will help prevent widespread flood damage.
"We have rapid response teams in place that are comprised of fire, police and public works," explained Farr. "We're all working together as first responders to be able to try and get ahead of this situation before we have property damage in people's homes."
The city is asking residents who see new waterways coming down off mountains or creating new ravines to call the non-emergency number at 801-395-8221.
If anything, the past 10 days have proven to be a reminder that when it comes to diverse weather, Utah can't be beat.
"We went from snow plowing heavy snow, lots of hours, to now flood monitoring, making burns and just to control the water," Ramos said.
