HURRICANE, Utah — The cleanup continues in Hurricane, days after heavy rains caused Gould Wash to overflow.
Betty Keil-Stevenson said her home is a total loss. She was working Friday when she got a call from her son, who said the street was flooding.
"My blue Kia was floating down the street, so as soon as I got that call I came home... it definitely floated down the street. Everything was flooded all the way up to the line of my home,” Keil-Stevenson said. "I'm sad about the stuff that I've lost, but more so the memories and all of the pictures that can't be replaced.”
Over the last 31 years, Betty raised all four of her children in her home. Now the only thing echoing from its walls is the sounds of fans.
"I'm definitely a person who feels like I'm in control, but at that point there was no control of anything, and anything you think is safekeeping is not,” Keil-Stevenson said.
Keil-Stevenson’s children started a GoFundMe page for her to help with the costs of repairs. Some of her neighbors' homes escaped the worst, but it didn't stop them from putting on their own boots and getting to work.
"When it's your people. Your friends, your community, it's personal," said Heather Martz. "To be in their drawers in their home, there's no privacy anymore. You're just trying to salvage what you think is significant to these people. Their journals are covered in mud, their hand-me-downs, their baby books. You don't have time to process the loss. It's brutal."
Drone video shows extent of flooding damage in Hurricane:
Days after the flood, that morale still rings true.
"It was pretty epic to see families roll in with shovels and give endless hours. All ages,” Martz added. "My boys are 8 to 18.”
The biggest struggle, though, is that residents affected didn't have flood insurance.
"Everyone here in this area is not covered by insurance just because we are not in a flood zone,” Keil Stevenson explained. "So everything is up to us, so when we did call our insurance company, they did wish us the best of luck in recovery.”
