SALT LAKE CITY – Thunderstorms that swept over Utah overnight and Wednesday mornings have resulted in numerous power outages and school closings in Delta.
LIVE RADAR: Check the FOX 13s LIVE interactive radar to see where the rain and storm are near you
Flood damage to schools and homes in the Delta area forced the Millard School District to cancel classes on Wednesday. Officials say a return to a normal schedule is expected on Thursday.
Ryan Daley
Wind damage in Millcreek Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Rocky Mountain Power reports that thousands of households in northern Utah have been without power, with most outages being concentrated in Ogden, Salt Lake City, and the Delta.
Rocky Mountain Power crews were out and about in multiple locations and had to contend with several minor power outages.
In some cases it was overturned power lines or electricity pylons that had detonated. But not because of the lightning.
Rocky Mountain Power officials said these particles build up on power lines and boxes after long periods of extremely hot and dry weather, coupled with pollution like all of the smoke we had in the air. Then if you add a large amount of water very quickly, as in the rainstorms we experience, it can cause those pipes to become overloaded and rupture or catch fire.
“It’s almost a cake above all of the gear that is in the polls, and it makes it worse,” said Jasen Lee of Rocky Mountain Power. “So we just had a perfect storm, you could say, with all the dry weather and the fires and all of that made the situation a little bit worse.”
Lee said the good news is that the crews are able to react and make most repairs relatively quickly.
But officials stressed that if you see a road blocking sign next to some Rocky Mountain motor vehicles, please be careful, as it likely means that a power line has been dropped that could be extremely dangerous and potentially fatal if you come in contact with it.
And last but not least, with more storms on the way, if you haven’t experienced a power outage, you could still do.
And the officers want to remind everyone that they are prepared between 48 and 72 hours with flashlights, candles, food and water, just in case.
At 11:22 a.m., the company reported 2,103 customers without power, up from a high of around 5,000 at 6:30 a.m.
Provo Power also reported an outage affecting 100 customers near the Rock Canyon Bowl caused by trees on power lines.
READ: Severe weather hits Salt Lake Region on Tuesday
Local residents in the Millcreek area sent photos to FOX 13 showing trees in the neighborhood.
Ryan Daley
Dugway police reported Wednesday morning that a power outage had occurred in the English village area due to a power pole fire.
Southern Utah also experienced severe weather similar to recent rains that caused flooding in cities like Enoch and Cedar City. The northern arm of the Virgin River in Zion National Park was almost flooded after heavy rains. The National Weather Service on Twitter described it as a “grave situation”.
Comments are closed.