NewsLocal News

Actions

Power outages, road buckling reported as Utah experiences extreme heat

Posted
and last updated

SALT LAKE COUNTY — Thousands of Utahns lost power early Sunday evening, causing a major headache for residents trying to stay cool during record-breaking temperatures.

Rocky Mountain Power reported nearly 3,000 total customers without electricity at one point, according to the company's outage map. Most were in the southern portion of Salt Lake County, with Draper hit the hardest at over 1,500.

By Sunday night around 10:30, there were around 1,200 total customers without power, with the vast majority (993) still in the Salt Lake Valley.

Other outage areas included the Gunnison/Salina area of central Utah with approximately 700 customers losing power, and another 350 in Grantsville. Those outages have since been restored for the most part.

Most of the outages showed no determined cause yet, and RMP gave an estimate of 11:30 p.m. or midnight for the time of power restoration. A company spokesperson said those estimates are later than normal so customers can be prepared for such scenarios, but they hope to have them fixed sooner than that.

Later in the evening, outages in Roy impacted around 200 customers. As of late Sunday night, there were about 150.

Another outage was reported near the Utah-Arizona border, just northwest of Hildale, with 103 RMP customers losing power. Those have since been restored.

In St. George, which has its own electricity provider, there are also reports of power outages. However, the number of people impacted is not yet known.

If your power goes out — and with it, obviously, air conditioning — experts suggest ways to keep cool such as taking cold showers or baths, placing cold washrags or ice packs on your wrists or neck, and staying hydrated.

The Utah Department of Transportation is also reporting multiple instances of road buckling. They include: Redwood Road and North Temple in Salt Lake City, the southbound I-15 on-ramp at 2100 South, southbound I-15 at 2900 South, and U.S. 89 at 3000 North in Davis County.

UDOT told FOX 13 News earlier in the summer that they usually deal with a few dozen road buckling incidents each year around this time.

LIVE VIEW of road buckling/repair process: