Garden City declares state of emergency over drain, flood
(Fox13) Because approximately 80% of Garden City homes are vacation homes or short-term rentals, Mayor Mike Leonhardt encourages all homeowners to inspect their property.
Garden City, UT • Snow still covers part of Garden City’s low, mid and high elevations, which is why Mayor Mike Leonhardt has declared a state of emergency to help prepare for and combat flooding.
“We’re just really concerned because our lake is still frozen, temperatures are just starting to heat up like the lower level is just starting to drop and we have all the higher levels as well,” Leonhardt said. “We’re just really concerned about the water and how quickly it’s going to come down.”
Mayor Leonhardt saw a few years ago what floods can do to the community. The canal filled with snow and ice and when the February thaw occurred, water began to flow over the top of the canal.
“It just destroyed all these houses, a lot of houses here got damaged, so we’ve had problems in the past and this will certainly be one of the worst we’ve seen in a while,” he said.
Leonhardt says a landslide caused a burst pipe in part of the city’s main sewer. To keep the landslide from getting worse, they had to divert water through several culverts.
“If this pipe breaks, the whole thing is going to come down all these houses, townhouses, so we had to create this water in two or three different places in this canal to get it out of that section so it’s away from these houses,” said Leonhardt.
Because around 80% of Garden City homes are vacation homes or short-term rentals, Mayor Leonhardt encourages all homeowners to inspect their property.
“Most of those who have second homes here have had them for a while and I think they understand that we have some water coming down so it’s just a matter of being proactive about their own homes and making sure you’re in were in a flood area. Now start with the sandbags,” said Mayor Leonhardt.
Leonhardt says the city donated all the sandbags and sand, and all that’s left for people to do is pick it up.
This article is published by the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of Utah news organizations dedicated to educating readers across the state.
