This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An irrigation canal breach brought several hundred people, including area high school students, rushing to lay down walls of sandbags in the Utah County town of Salem late Tuesday morning.
But by Tuesday afternoon, crews had repaired the break and specialists from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were planning to inspect the canal Wednesday, according to Salem Police Chief Brad James.
Water from the roughly 20-mile West Salem Canal, believed to have failed about 10:45 a.m., had been flowing through orchards, which soaked up the deluge before it reached homes in the area of 1300 South and 250 West, Salem police said.
As of Tuesday evening, the remaining water in the canal was draining and the headwater was gated to facilitate further inspection.
— Erin Alberty contributed to this story
Twitter: @remims