SALT LAKE CITY — Days after declaring a state of emergency to free up more money to respond to possible flooding, Governor Spencer Cox said Utah is in good position financially to deal with mitigation and clean up, but warned all residents to be cautious near rivers and streams.
"The highest risk is still ahead of us... don’t want to speak too soon," said the governor during his monthly briefing Thursday.
Cox acknowledged that last week presented challenges as the snowpack began to melt and flooding was seen in several communities. The state has already exhausted $5 million set aside back in October to deal with a disaster response, but the state of emergency will allow leaders to tap into rainy day funds.
"We have plenty of money in reserve," he said. "Those rainy day funds aren’t just for economic downturns, they are for major emergencies. "
While there is no way to control how fast temperatures warm up, which can potentially speed up the snow melt, the governor believes there is a big difference between this spring and that of 1983 that saw flood waters raging through Salt Lake City.
"What a lot of people forget about 1983 is they forget about 1982 which set records for snowfall and water, and filled reservoirs to capacity; there wasn’t much left, there was nowhere else to put the water. We have additional reservoir capacity now that we didn’t have then," explained Cox.
Cox praised coordination efforts between the state, cities and counties and pointed at the Utah emergency response team’s efforts to distribute 1 million sand bags. He believes the state’s flood plans and infrastructure are working.
"It's been really impressive considering we haven’t had to use the flood muscles for a while," he said.
Later, the governor encouraged Utahns who are concerned about flooding issues to verify that they are covered by flood insurance.
As for the cost of this winter and the expensive snow removal and potential flood mitigation, it means the legislature will eventually be asked to allocate more money. The governor was unsure if this will require a special session.
