Forecast rain has flood victims concerned about a second hit


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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — The chance of more rain has some homeowners on edge Tuesday, and they hope they’re prepared enough to prevent a repeat of what happened over the weekend.

“It looked like there was a big lake back here,” Heidi Morton said, referring to her neighbor’s backyard.

When a storm hit Eagle Mountain Sunday, several homes were flooded. Neighbors came together to help the Collier family get water of their yard.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” said Desiree Collier, who lives in the Pioneer Addition subdivision.

She said there was also 10 inches of water in a window well, and the weight of it caused a small crack in the window.

“You could actually see the line, it’s right here,” Collier said, pointing to the waterline.

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Water got in her basement, too. Within 30 minutes, what started out as a puddle turned into an inch and a half of water.

“We finally got it under control after about six hours,” Collier said.

Part of the problem was the heavy run-off, she said. But a sloping, public pathway that runs along the side of her house to a neighborhood playground made it worse.

“All of the water pools there," Collier said. "Even in the summertime, it was flooding our grass back there so we couldn’t even mow our lawn."

Collier and her husband bought the house six months ago, but neighbors said flooding is a recurring problem here.

The problem is what drove Morton’s landscaping design.

“We built up our yard, brought in a bunch of dirt, put grass in,” Morton said.


My advice would be to take all of your down spouts from your roof and try to get them out to the front of your house, to install your own small ADS pipes into the ground, and try to get it out and away from the house and out to the street as possible.

–Chris Trusty, Eagle Mt. Public Works


Eagle Mountain city administrators say they'll look at options for the pathway, including replacing the cement with asphalt to help alleviate flooding. Public works director Chris Trusty said the land is flat and some homes have low-lying yards.

“If the yard was higher, or if there was a path for the water to go somewhere else, then it would," Trusty said.

He said all homeowners can do their part to avoid flooding.

“My advice would be to take all of your down spouts from your roof and try to get them out to the front of your house, to install your own small ADS pipes into the ground, and try to get it out and away from the house and out to the street as possible," Trusty said.

Meanwhile, Collier is relying on short-term solutions like the sandbags for now.

“We’re hoping for the best, expecting the worst, I guess,” she said.

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