HURRICANE, Utah (KUTV) — Hurricane Mayor Clark Fawcett said the city had not cleared Gould Wash near homes before it flooded for a second time.
The city had denied 2News’ daily requests to discuss the wash since Thursday’s flooding, until the lieutenant governor visited the area Thursday.
Earlier this month, a city spokesperson said crews had cleared bridges and deposit areas. But Fawcett said Thursday that the city had neglected the wash in neighborhoods.
“That’s something we have never worried too much about because it seemed like we were able to handle it. Now we’ve got to look at it a little bit differently,” Fawcett said.
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Pecan Townhomes owner Mark Tabbilos expressed frustration after the property was hit by both the August and October floods.
“Most of the time this wash is full of junk, it’s full of junk and we just wanted to do something about it,” Tabbilos said. “The wash was still the same, there was nothing done and it’s kind of frustrating because this happened again.”
Fawcett said the city did not feel the need to clear Gould Wash near neighborhoods because there is typically a long stretch of time between storms.
“History said it’s only happened every 20 or 30 years, so we were just going to go ahead and do the same thing like we’ve always done and go in December. But we’re on—Unfortunately, Mother Nature proved that wrong,” he said.
The city typically clears the wash once a year.
“We have irrigation water that runs through the section here, and so it gets so wet and muddy we usually wait till the irrigation’s done,” Fawcett said. “We do it in December.”
Fawcett said the city is reconsidering its approach to the wash.
“Maybe we’ll need to do something more with it,” he said. “If we can see we can get in on a less regular basis, we’ll try to clear it out so we have it open for the season, which usually we get the floods from, which is the July and August thunderstorms. That’s where you get flooding from. This is unprecedented to have one this late into the year.”
The city has started clearing debris ahead of weekend rain. Asked about widening or deepening the wash or adding protective walls, Fawcett said the city would need to present plans to the Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction.
“We do need to plan. We do need to get it done,” Fawcett said. “We’ve got to get it up to a larger capacity here even if we’re going to do the detention basin.”
Flood committee member Cherie Santiago said she was grateful the city was assessing the wash’s long-term stability but wanted officials to allow enough time to do the work properly.
“If we make it shorter somewhere else, this house complex might be safe, but then someone else down the road isn’t. So that attention is to the professionals who can get that done properly,” Santiago said.
Fawcett said he believes the lieutenant governor’s visit will help bring funding and other resources for improvements to the wash.
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