Count Your Many Blessings!

The canal as it is giving away.
The canal broken and turning into a waterfall
SOME of the damage.

Saturday early afternoon was interesting. We were working on our fireplace and painting when the power went out at about 12:30 pm. Kris (at great guy from our ward) was helping us grout our title fireplace when the power went out. Eric and Kris were just finishing up. Kris's son Kleese came by the house telling his dad that the dam broke and they were evacuating The Island. Kris hurried home to find out more. Eric and I looked out the window and saw the canal filling with brown muddy water. We watched as it got very close to the top. We heard all sorts of police cars, fire engines and helicopters outside. We walked up the street to find out what was happening. A police office was directing traffic off the closed streets.

This is what we found out: at about 12 noon a water line on Fourth North broke sending water down the hill to the Island. The water filled the canal, the canal gave way and broke sending a mud slide down on homes on Canyon Road and Crockett Avenue. One house completely collapsed and 5 severe damage and 10 others had basement flooding and yard flooding. A couple of people from our ward had damage. The house that collapsed, had a mother and 2 teenage children inside.

Ward members, neighbors, city workers, and others diverted the water off of Crockett and back into the other canal. The rest of the day was spent shoveling mud, cleaning homes and searching for the family trapped in their home. Eric and I could still hear workers out at 12:30 midnight working. At 1am they called it quits for the night. 15 families slept at our Stake Center and the family to the family trapped in their home, stayed at our Church building. My heart ached for the trapped family and their survivors.

Sunday Morning: we were notified that church was changed from 1pm to 9:30 am combined with the other wards. Our Stake President was there, High Council members and a representative from the 70s was there. We had a great meeting of uplifting talks and a call to serve. Each ward was asked to have so many volunteers to help clean yards, mud off streets and clean the basements of the homes hit.

Eric and I accepted the call to help. I was asked to help make lunches for the volunteers and make cookies for the lunches. Eric was sent to help clean yards around the flood area. We left our house at noon and I got home at 3:30 pm and Eric at 4:00 pm.

It is an amazing experience to see city workers, neighbors, neighborhoods and ward members come together like that! I am truly amazed at the love you feel as a community! What a wonderful sight to such an awful disaster.

My heart and prayers continue to go out to the families affected by this tragedy. My God Be With You!