Floods strike Utah after heavy rainstorms

SALT LAKE CITY — Reports started coming in on Friday night of flooding after heavy rain struck parts of Utah over the weekend due to remnants of a hurricane pushing into the state.

Washington County

Washington County was struck with flooding that started around 7:50 p.m. on Friday, according to Sgt. Lucas Alfred with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Alfred said residents reported flooded roads with debris being pushed onto the roadways in Gunlock, New Harmony, Dammeron Valley and Pine Valley.

According to Alfred, the floods were bad enough in Pine Valley that the town had to be closed off to the public.

“Pine Valley was hit very hard after the Forsyth Fire,” Alfred said. “They lost most of their vegetation on the mountain side that would help retain some of that water coming down in a hurry like that.”

Alfred said people were concerned about possible injuries with the town being cut off to the public.

“You couldn’t leave or get in for quite a while because the roadway was completely flooded over,” Alfred said. 

Residents there began bunkering down while emergency services and Pine Valley Fire Department stocked up on supplies for those in need. According to Alfred, local emergency services anticipated the damage from the Forsyth Fire would cause flooding like this, and they were prepared.

“Try and avoid low areas, if heavy rain starts to fall you need to move to higher ground,” Alfred said. “We had one person last night who didn’t do that, they decided in the rain to go down into a bowl area in the desert, they did call in our search and rescue who were able to go in and retrieve her and her dog.”

The woman was rescued without any injuries in Washington City, along with her dog.

Alfred said Pine Valley is now accessible to the public and no injuries have been reported by residents.

The Virgin River after a storm in Washington County passed through the area on Friday night. (Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson via X)

La Verkin

A creek near Zion National Park called La Verkin Creek began flooding due to the storms.

“Normally you can step across the La Verkin Creek,” Victor Iverson said in a Facebook post. “Confluence Park suffered flooding and damage last night.”

Iverson also advised people not to use the parking lot out of the River Wood subdivision and to avoid the park due to an excessive amount of mud and water in the area.

“I fear mother nature is not done yet,” Iverson said.

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This story will be updated as more information becomes available on floods moving throughout Utah.