Salt Lake City Floods: Here’s How You Can Help

The city is hosting volunteer events this weekend to fill sandbags.

Salt Lake City officials are hosting sandbag-filling events this weekend.

The events are open to local residents who want to pick up sandbags, as well as volunteers who want to help fill sandbags for the community.

The Events begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday in two different locations: the “Big Field” in Sugar House Park and Rosewood Park on the west side.

Mounds of sand will be hauled into the parks on Friday. The events last until 5 p.m. or the sand has settled. If there is sand left on Sunday, efforts in the parks will resume at 9 a.m

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall urged volunteers to bring shovels, gloves and “a good attitude” and use public transportation to avoid parking problems.

Interested parties can register using this online form or request further information.

The weekend’s sandbagging events follow a call for volunteers late Wednesday in the Wasatch Hollow area of ​​Salt Lake City, when floodwaters rose to about a foot high that evening near 1700 South and 1700 East.

Hundreds of volunteers responded, showing up in droves to fill sandbags and stack them to help divert pouring water away from homes.

Volunteering continued Thursday afternoon, where around 1 p.m. more than a dozen volunteers, equipped with their own shovels, gathered near 1700 East and 1700 South

One volunteer, Scott Hepburn, said he lives south of the affected area. He had recently been laid off and said he had some free time on his hands.

“This has to happen,” Hepburn said, “so I decided to come out because I don’t do much else.”

Another volunteer, Charlie Sanchez, who is retired, said he heard about the flood and “just wanted to come out here and help.”

“I’ll help as long as I can, as long as my back will allow,” he joked. Around 3:30 p.m. the volunteer work was completed.

Mendenhall on Thursday attributed minimal damage to homes in the Wasatch Hollow area to the volunteers who immediately came to help.

“This is a tribute to the teamwork between the city, county and residents of Salt Lake City,” said Mendenhall. “That’s what we do. We show up. We work hard together and we’re good at it.”