MIDVALE, Utah — Volunteers were hard at work Friday morning at the Flood Control Sandbag Shed in Midvale filling sandbags to help people gear up for potential flooding.

The bags filled Friday will be distributed across the Wasatch Front around creeks and streams that may get overwhelmed if the snow melts too quickly. According to the Public Works Director for Salt Lake County Scott Baird, the county is expecting a high snow runoff.

“We want to be prepared with sandbags to help protect the streams and keep water in the creeks,” he says. 

The goal is to fill 12,000 sandbags.

Former Mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson was in office during historic flooding in 1983. He says preparation is key.

“We were able to get through that day, mainly, because most religious leaders in town told people to go down and help the sandbagging, and we had 10,000 people by high noon,” Wilson says. “I hope we don’t have to recreate that.”

The current Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson says the county is keeping a close eye on Utah’s snowpack as it begins to melt.

“We learned a lot from 1983, so of course, we’re watching the snowpack in the Wasatch Mountains,” she says. “Our biggest concern is a rapid increase of temperature.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Devin Oldroyd contributed to this story.

Further reading

• Flooding is a “major concern” Weber County officials say
• Farmers are skeptical about participating in water leasing to save the Great Salt Lake
• Storm approaching Utah will add significantly to strong Utah snowpack