Police officers responded shortly after noon to the citywide outage by manning major intersections in downtown Logan.

Several businesses closed for nearly an hour while all available employees of the Logan Light and Power Co. searched for the cause of the outage, according to Bruce Clark, lead system controller for Logan's power plant.

Steve Crosby, distribution manager for Logan Light and Power, said it looked like multiple lightning strikes were responsible for a “fried” transmission line. Once the location of the disruption was identified, the power was immediately restored, Crosby said.

On the west side of the city-owned golf course, the Logan River, which has flooded more than a mile of pasture in the neighborhood for several weeks, finally spilled over a gravel berm and onto the road. A small portion of Park Avenue is under water, forcing the closure of the road from approximately 1000 South to 1600 South.

In spite of these inconveniences, Cache County Sheriff Lt. Matt Bilodeau was “cautiously optimistic” Monday afternoon. Bilodeau said the Logan River was three inches higher Tuesday than last Friday, but he suspects it has peaked.

“If we can get two more weeks like that - a few days of warm weather and then it cools off for a day - without any major rain, I think we're done. But if we get an inch or more of rain in a short period of time, the river will run its banks,” he said.

Bilodeau said his main concern now is the safety of people and pets, who may recreate near rivers and lakes - especially in light of the upcoming holiday weekend.

“People across the state need to stay away from the water. They've got to remember that a few minutes of exposure to the very cold water will incapacitate breathing and muscles and seize the lungs,” Bilodeau said. “It takes a very short time before you've succumbed to the cold water and you're drowning.”