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Utahns on Friday sifted through extensive wreckage after a stint of severe weather — including two tornadoes — tore through the state.
An EF1 tornado touched down in Garfield County on Thursday night, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, rated low on the 0-to-5 scale for intensity, but powerful enough to rip the roofs off a Panguitch home and an office building. The twister produced winds that likely reached 110 mph and left a path of damage up to 25 yards wide, the NWS reported.
Earlier that day, more than 50 families in Weber County were displaced by another tornado, which was classified as EF0 as it skipped through Riverdale but grew to EF1 as it struck Washington Terrace. Its winds also climbed to about 110 mph, and its greatest width covered between 40 and 50 yards.
Carbon County floods devastated residential neighborhoods as water and mud crept over barriers and into basements. At least 98 homes were reported damaged from rising water levels — which hindered the functionality of water heaters, furnaces and electrical systems throughout the region, said Whitney Waterfall, emergency services specialist for the Carbon County Sheriff's Office.
A "conservative" estimate for necessary home repairs was $600,000, she said Friday night, but more reports of home damage were expected to arrive in the coming days.
Additionally, she said, 13 businesses had reported water damage. Flood damage to commercial buildings, road infrastructure, utilities and Price River Water Improvement District is estimated to cost about $430,000.
The county in central Utah declared a state of emergency Friday. Officials hoped, Waterfall said, that the declaration would help them access federal funds and state resources to help cover the cost of repairs. The county is allotted about $76,000 in state emergency funds, she noted.
Resident Camla Nielsen said a canal broke in her Price neighborhood Thursday night, sending water and mud "pooling into window wells" of homes.
Traveling through town Thursday was like "driving through a lake," she added. All that was visible of the vehicles "buried" under water on 800 North were the roofs of cars and tops of horse trailers, she said.
Her husband was out until 3 a.m. Friday, helping neighbors pull out mud-soaked carpet and flooring, she said, and other community members were coordinating efforts to bring meals to those in need through a local Mormon congregation.
Carbon County set up a hotline, 435-472-HELP(4357), Friday for residents who need assistance.
Power outages in Weber and Davis counties persisted into Friday. While tens of thousands of Utahns lost power from the storm, the number dropped to about 4,500 late Friday night , according to Rocky Mountain Power reports.
Bonneville High School, T.H. Bell Junior High, and Roosevelt and Washington Terrace elementary schools canceled class Friday, the Weber School District reported, and Utah Transit Authority sent route 612 on a detour to avoid storm damage in Washington Terrace.
Heavy precipitation produced more than three inches of rain in several spots, including the western Uinta Basin, along the northeast Ogden bench and in mountain ranges of southern Utah. Nonpaved roads at Dinosaur National Monument were impassible after the area received more than 2.5 inches of rain, rangers said.
State park officials closed Fielding Garr Ranch on Antelope Island due to storm damage that included a destroyed barn roof. The park's large animals — such as bison, pronghorn and coyotes — appear to have survived the storm without injury, rangers said.
Snow fell on Panguitch cleanup crews Friday morning, while rain and snow continued in northern Utah.
A winter weather advisory was issued until 10 a.m. Saturday throughout the mountains of northeastern Utah.