WASHINGTON, Utah - As the remains of tropical storm Odile make their way farther inland, cities in Southern Utah prepare for what would be the third round of flash flooding in a month.
The remains of tropical storm Odile have already caused flooding in parts of Arizona, and placed four other states on alert. The storm appears to be decreasing in intensity, but cities say they can never be too careful.
“We don’t know where the rain is going to fall,” says Washington City police chief Jim Keith. “But if it falls in those areas where we’ve had issues in the past, we’ve done some mitigation work there to hopefully not have the impact that we’ve had in the past.”
One of the improvements being made in Washington is installation of domed drains, the idea is debris collects around the edges, but still allows water to go into the drain. Street crews have also cleared ditches and created larger collection basins.
Those who live on Main Street have also left sandbags in place. Main Street was hardest hit during the last two flash floods.
“It’s almost impossible to move them on a moment’s notice,” says resident Courtney Leeds. “When that water is coming down, it’s really a lot of work to move them. Cinder blocks seem to be working, so we have these cinder blocks here because they’re a lot lighter.
If it reaches Utah, the storm is expected to hit Wednesday night.
