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ST. GEORGE - From the air and eroded banks of the Santa Clara and Virgin rivers, officials and residents of Washington County on Wednesday viewed with awe and sadness the destruction left behind by this week's flooding.
Preliminary estimates from local governments put the cost of the damage at more than $60 million.
The $37.4 million figure St. George City presented to state officials Wednesday covers just the amount of damage calculated so far for public infrastructure and does not include the 14 houses that were gobbled up by the torrential waters of the Santa Clara River, which caused the most damage Tuesday and early Wednesday.
It also does not include an additional 20 houses in St. George that are probably uninhabitable because of structural damage from the flood, which left a 20-mile swath of devastation along the Santa Clara.
Dean Cox, director of emergency services for Washington County, said the flood caused at least $10 million damage to county infrastructure - not including private property. When estimates arrive from Santa Clara, Washington City and Toquerville, the conservative grand total for all damage caused by the flood could top $60 million, Cox said.
By comparison, the tornado that swept through downtown Salt Lake City in 1999 caused 2.6 million in damage.
Santa Clara City Manager Matt Brower said four houses were lost in his town to the river's fury. The bucolic valley where it is situated west of St. George will never be the same, he added.
"About 90 percent of our trees are gone, sediment has been deposited in places it hasn't been before, and the river has been diverted into different areas," said Brower.
The monetary loss to the community of 6,500 was still being figured Wednesday and will include acres of productive farm land that melted away into the river, he said.
Robert Flowers, state commissioner of public safety, said the flood's destruction was "breathtaking."
"People ask me about making repairs, but you don't repair damage like this, you have to rebuild."
The Utah Department of Emergency Services will get the ball rolling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA will deliver a preliminary damage assessment signed by Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to President Bush, who will then decide whether to declare the county a federal disaster area.
If declared a disaster area, the government entities could get grants from the government totaling 75 percent of the costs, with the remainder coming from affected communities.
The maximum set by federal law for financial disaster relief to eligible individuals is $26,200, said Ryan Pietramali on Wednesday.
A meeting with officials from all the cities damaged by the flood and the county will be held with FEMA representatives Friday morning.
As morning broke Wednesday under blue skies, residents on Valley View Drive in the Green Valley neighborhood of St. George gathered to photograph and see for themselves where the river washed out a 600-foot section of the road, taking with it houses, a city park and about a quarter-acre of Jon Otten's back yard, which now features a 30-foot drop into the Santa Clara.
"I had a tree house and fruit trees that are gone now," said Otten as he surveyed damage on an upper deck of the house he lives in with his wife, Ann, and their three children. "But I have a view of the [Pine Valley] mountains that before was blocked by cottonwood trees."
As the river roared by Tuesday night, Otten said he saw several houses slip into the water.
"When one went, it was like an explosion sending up a huge ball of white powder," he said. Adding to the horror, he said, were broken gas lines throwing up geysers of water and vapor for two hours.
Down the street, on Brook View Lane, which runs parallel to the river that had dropped dramatically by Wednesday, the back of a house owned by Monte Nelson dangled over an undercut bank.
Caretaker Dionicio Lopez said that as the river rose Tuesday, he and neighbors broke into Nelson's house and removed furnishings until it became too dangerous. They also saved Nelson's motor home and Lexus from a garage that later vanished.
St. George police spokesman Craig Harding said most services and utilities were restored to residents, including potable water.
Schools, which were closed Wednesday, were expected to re-open today.
About 50 families were displaced by the flood, but the exact number was unknown because many were staying with relatives. Others took refuge at the Dixie Center, where the American Red Cross set up a shelter, or in numerous motels and resorts that offered free rooms.
The city's U-Haul and Ryder truck rental firms were offering moving trucks free of charge.
The Holiday Inn on Bluff Street gave out 20 free rooms to displaced families Tuesday.
Spence Larsen's niece, her husband and her mother-in-law were staying in some of those donated rooms Wednesday after his home crashed into the Santa Clara River.
His job moved him to Las Vegas a few months ago, but most of his belongings remained in the three-bedroom home on Valley View Drive.
"I have nothing now. I got very little out," said Larsen, who first watched footage of his home collapsing via the Internet, then on the news and finally in the morning newspapers.
The rushing water ate away his 75-foot back yard before taking his home, too. Among items lost were family photo albums and mementos.
Larsen said he and his family will not rebuild; instead, they will move to Las Vegas.
From Hurricane to Gunlock, residents and government crews worked to clean up streets and yards Wednesday. Crews also rushed to restore power and water service.
Their efforts were helped by a weather forecast calling for no precipitation the rest of the week.
The search for Gerold Grimmet, 62, who was swept away Monday by a swollen Quail Creek and is presumed dead, has been put on hold as crews wait for Quail Creek Reservoir to become less silty, said Cox.
Officials had no new information on an unconfirmed report of a man seen falling into the Santa Clara River on Tuesday.
For the second day in a row, Huntsman on Wednesday toured flood-ravaged southwestern Utah, this time in a Blackhawk helicopter.
During the 80-minute flight over Gunlock, Enterprise, Hurricane and St. George, Huntsman saw two demolished homes, six destroyed bridges and large swaths of river where roads were meant to be.
He described the flood-swept zone as "almost like the path of a tornado."
But on this clear and sunny morning, Huntsman said the worst was over.
"The work to rebuild now begins," he said. The governor said he expects FEMA to pick up "a good percentage of the loss," including at least a partial handout to those who lost their homes, and he promised to make state money available to supplement federal assistance.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who also toured the flooding Wednesday, promised to facilitate federal assistance.