SALT LAKE CITY — If you were in Utah in 1983, chances are you remember the flooding. Or if you were born since or moved here recently, you might have heard of the “State Street River.”
On May 29, 40 years ago, State Street was filled with water and was lined with people and sandbags. That year’s snowpack and consistently high temperatures had water overflowing from City Creek in Salt Lake City, as well as bodies of water in other parts of the state.
“40 years is a long time. I was 39, now I’m 80,” said Lorayne Frank, who was the director of Utah Comprehensive Emergency Management when most counties flooded in 1983.
To deal with the fast-melting snowpack in 1983, water from City Creek was diverted to State Street.
“Everything is much better after 40 years. We learned a lot," Frank said. "Clearing of streams and information dissemination to the locals — it’s just amazing what’s been happening from the time that was like the stone ages, compared to now."
Frank explained that 40 years ago, she had a team of 6-10 people and was the one flipping through yellow pages looking for phone numbers to call contractors, crews and people to help.
“Trying to get as many sandbags — we went through a million and a half. We were out. We were telling people to take shirts, button them up, put sand in it and take the arms and tie them up,” said Frank.
She said seeing everyone come out to help each other was one of the highlights of the natural disaster.
That's something former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson echoes and hopes we continue.
“Be prepared to offer help, especially on the neighborhood level. Someone’s basement may be flooded, or other things could happen,” said Wilson. “People need to work together and enjoy each other.”
Both say they don’t think this will happen again.
“If we had any problems now, we didn’t learn our lesson,” said Frank.
“There’s been a lot of improvements that have been since 1983 with the infrastructure, lot of mitigation work,” said Kris Hamlet, the state director of emergency management. “Everybody learns from these events. The 1983 event was a wake-up call for things that needed to happen, and there have been a lot of improvements over the years.”
The historic State Street flood has become a core memory for many Utahns — anyone who was here then remembers where they were when this happened and how it impacted them. If you have memories or pictures you want to share with FOX 13 News, post them to the "Utah’s Weather Authority" Facebook group.
