PROVO, Utah — It’s been about a month since FOX 13 News met with volunteers at a Provo church after a massive mudslide sent feet of mud inside the building after heavy rains fell on a burn scar left from the Buckley Draw Fire.
“In the days following, we were with buckets and shovels trying to get the mud out of our church with a lot of volunteers,” explained Rachel Whitlock.
Whitlock remembers the mudslide like it was yesterday.
“It had rocks, trees, and all of it smelled like burnt... forest fire and just a unique smell we couldn’t get out of our nostrils for days, because it was so strong,” she said.
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Weeks later, residents in the neighborhood near the burn scar are once again concerned as weekend storms are expected to hit parts of Utah.
“We’re really worried about it," Whitlock said. "There’s that debris channel that was built a long time ago that was built behind the houses and wasn’t extended in this new development area.”
Provo Public Works has been preparing for what's possible with the latest round of storms.
“We have put up three debris basins up on this hill, we’ve left the jersey barriers as well as other elements intact. If we have another debris flow like earlier this month, we should be fine,” explained Provo Public Works director Gordon Haight.
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Contractors are currently working on building a permanent basin for a larger debris flow throughout the area.
Whitlock hopes whatever happens this weekend doesn’t cause another mudslide.
“If it were to happen again, that would be, I think, double frustrating because it can’t be a surprise. There’s no excuse,” she said.
The city explained how they’re ready to go with extra staff should storms hit.
“Just be patient as we clean up the road," said Haight, "...just to make sure that we’re safe in this area.”
