Posted on 12/21/2010 2:47:32 PM PST by Colofornian
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The National Weather Service reports that a dam along the east fork of the Virgin River near Zion National Park is about to break, and warned residents in Springdale and Rockville to evacuate immediately.
The Washington County Commission also signed a declaration of emergency.
The NWS report issued at about 12:30 p.m. said that the imminent failure of the Trees Ranch Dam on the east fork of the Virgin River in Washington County was reported by the Washington County Sheriffs department. The nearest downstream community is Rockville, which is at risk from imminent dam failure.
The NWS reported that IF THe privately-owned dam were to fail "catastrophically," flows in excess of 50,000 cubic feet per second would reach Rockville about 35 to 45 minutes after the failure.
The NWS said a catastrophic failure is a "worst case" scenario, and that a less rapid failure would result in a much lower, although still significant volume of water that would impact the town of Rockville and others downstream.
The dam is located at the mouth of the Parunaweap Canyon which is just south of Zion National Park. Water from the dam was expected to move down the east fork of the Virgin river and eventually into the Virgin river.
The NWS warned all residents who live below the Trees Ranch Dam to take action immediately.
Washington County officials warned all residents who live near the Virgin River to take caution as more than 300 top 500 acre feet of water and debris was expected to flow through Rockville, Ivins, Hurricane, LaVerkin, Washington, St. George and Mesquite.
The Utah American Red Cross planned to open a shelter in Hurricane for residents of Rockville and others who may be forced to evacuate from their homes due to the rising flood water. The shelter will be located at Hurricane Elementary 50 South 100 West.
The American Red Cross in Southern Nevada also opened a shelter Monday night at Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite, NV for residents affected by the flooding. The shelter hosted 15 individuals over night and was to remain open for as long as needed. For more information about shelters, go to www.redcross.org and click on “Find a Shelter.”
Stay tuned to ABC 4 News and ABC4.com for more on this story.
try
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13741496&autostart=y
and
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50916856-76/utah-county-dam-reported.html.csp
and
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50916856-76/utah-county-dam-reported.html.csp
Oh gawd, not the golf course! BREAKING!!!
Thank God.
try this
http://www.mirrranchgroup.com/images/ranches/TreesRanch_pond_big.jpg
It appears to be the best picture I can find on short notice and doesn’t show the dam itself.
Purty area.
9.9 on the obscure song leitmotif Richter scale.
I mean tree huggers live for taking down dams. Snail darter habitats and all that. Theyre a sick lot.
Not a big REM fan? :-)
That’s still desert country, and most folks are fully aware of flash floods, dam breaks, and evacuations. The folks know what to do.
Only newcomers will ignore the warnings.
I mean tree huggers live for taking down dams. Snail darter habitats and all that. Theyre a sick lot.
I think the reservoir made by the dam is called Loma Va and is about 50 acres built for recreational use for the ranch setting housing community.
Probably not too deep but they did have a dock so it it averages 10 foot deep that’s 21.78 million cubic feet of water which is 1.3 billion pounds of water plus whatever mud and debris it pushes along.
It is enough to give you a serious Saturday of yard clean up, that’s for dang sure. Someone get on e-bay and start buying up squee-gees.
I think the reservoir made by the dam is called Loma Va and is about 50 acres built for recreational use for the ranch setting housing community.
Probably not too deep but they did have a dock so it it averages 10 foot deep that’s 21.78 million cubic feet of water which is 1.3 billion pounds of water plus whatever mud and debris it pushes along.
It is enough to give you a serious Saturday of yard clean up, that’s for dang sure. Someone get on e-bay and start buying up squee-gees.
Southwest Utah is arid red rock desert, with sparse vegetation. When the area gets a lot of water, as this recent storm from LA brought(tons of fresh snow up north at the ski resorts), the river rips up a lot of soil and homes.
While driving through the Slot, keep your eye on the road or you may be part of the scenery. And flood statistics.
ping
Silent prayer up for them all..
Years ago, I was living in St. George when the Virgin was at flood stage. It was awesome to see, and even more horrible to contemplate the potential damage downstream.
In NV, we have “The Stupid Driver Law,” in which, if someone ignores the warnings, the flood waters and the barricades, one will not only get a ticket, but will also be charged for the rescue. Only fitting, dontchaknow.
Most of the idiocy is caught on tape so the drivers have to pay up. I love it!
Sparsely populated, mostly desert, rural, farms...agriculture and cattle. Most towns along the Virgin are too high to be too affected. They will open shelters as the needs (and waters) arise.
“The NWS reported that if the privately-owned dam were to fail ‘catastrophically,’ it will still be blamed on President Bush.” *SNORT*
Prayers up, but seriously - get the hell outta the way!
I recall a storm once that flooded the local back road by the small creek I took to work every day. Dark, raining hard. Came up to the little bridge and it just didn’t look right so I was going slow.
It took me quite a while sitting there looking at the bridge deck, and the pool of water in the road at the base of the bridge to get myself oriented on whether it was just a large puddle or worse. Finally my brain caught up with the fact that the “puddle” was about 2’ from the top of the “Slow” sign for the bridge!
I could easily see someone not familiar with the road or going too fast going right into that 3’ deep “puddle”.
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