50 stranded people saved after heavy rains cause flooding, road closures in Utah

UPDATE

At 8 a.m. Monday, zones D1, D2 and D4 in Duchesne County will be removed from pre-evacuation status, according to a Facebook post from the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office.

Strawberry River Road west of Camelot resort will remain closed indefinitely due to damage caused by Sunday’s flooding.

ORIGINAL STORY

FRUITLAND, Utah — Heavy rains on Sunday caused the Strawberry River to jump its banks, forcing officials to close a nearby road and save about 50 people who were stranded by the fast-moving flood water.

The river formed a new channel flowing down the middle of Strawberry River Road west of Camelot Resort, Duchesne County Sheriff David Boren said in a Facebook post.

The road was heavily damaged by flooding along the Dollar Ridge Fire burn scar and will remain closed until crews can repair it, the post read. There will be no access to Timber Canyon while the road is closed.

However, Strawberry River Road east of Camelot remains open, officials said.

A flash flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service earlier Sunday for the Pinnacles and Camelot areas downstream from the Strawberry River, the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City tweeted.

At least 50 people who found themselves trapped by fast-moving water and debris were rescued by Duchesne County sheriff’s deputies, county road department workers and firefighters assigned to the Dollar Ridge Fire, the sheriff’s office said.

A helicopter assigned to the fire also responded to help crews evacuate residents from flooded areas.

“Given the damage done by the Dollar Ridge Fire, and the slope of the terrain in the burn scar, any amount of rain has the possibility to trigger flash flooding and debris flows,” Boren said. “People need to know this and take the proper precautions.”

As of Sunday, the Dollar Ridge Fire had burned just under 57,000 acres, or 89 square miles, and was 93 percent contained, according to Inciweb.

The evacuation order for residents in Wasatch County known as W1 will change to pre-evacuation status beginning Monday at 8 a.m.

The National Weather Service also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Piute and Sevier counties.

In Piute County, a severe thunderstorm in Marysvale included “quarter-sized hail” and winds up to 50 mph, weather officials reported.

U.S. Highway 89 was temporarily closed in both directions at mile post 173, about 6 miles south of Marysvale, as a result of flooding.

flooding across SR 89 south of Marysvile around 6 PM #utwx @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/deNYLoVvXN

— Alan Daniels (@al_daniels) July 23, 2018