SALT LAKE CITY — With one of the strongest storms of the season expected to blow through Utah on Saturday, Salt Lake City officials and other business leaders are relying on the lessons they've learned from previous storms to help keep people safe.
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Back in 2020, the Salt Lake City Cemetery and surrounding areas were hit pretty hard during what was described as an inland hurricane.
City sexton Keith Van Otten said the high winds that day caused damaged to more than 250 of the headstones which were later repaired with funds supplied by the city.
"We reference that as the day the landscape of the cemetery changed for the foreseeable future, we lost over 250 trees in that event, since then we've actually been able to replant half of those," recalled Van Otten.
According to Van Otten, the trees damaged during that weather event were up to 140 years old. These days, the cemetery pays attention to anything that could be a safety concern during a high wind event, including looking for hanging limbs on trees.
Salt Lake City Public Lands say they feel prepared heading into Friday evening and the weekend. Officials are making sure all resources are ready to go, with the main takeaway from 2020 is to have protocols in place on how to respond should there be severe wind damage.
