Too much water: Flooding plagues Orangeville residents

By PHIL FAUVER Staff writer

Approximately 5 p.m. on the evening of July 12, the intersection near the Orangeville Welcome Park was flooded from a canal break and a flash flood North of Orangeville.
For the most part this flood followed a normal flow channel through back yards in the Orangeville subdivision on the North side of Cottonwood Creek. The flood started when the Cottonwood Creek Irrigation Company canal over flowed, caused by an excess amount of water draining off of property North of the canal. The two breaks in the canal were located about 100 yards North of the Orangeville Water Tower.
The home of Richard Maxwell, 435 North Canyon View, Orangeville and others received flood damage. Maxwell standing in front of his shop said his home and shop were flooded. The flood went in through a basement window. In the shop Maxwell said the flood had damaged a deep freeze, a washer, a dryer, two generators, a pressure washer, golf clubs, numerous boxes of storage, Christmas decorations and a stereo. The water that flooded his property was about 8-10 inches high as can be seen on the exterior shop wall.
As the flood passed through these yards it knocked over fences. In some places potato plants were washed out and some corn plants washed out.
By 9 a.m. the next morning the Cottonwood Creek Irrigation Company had a backhoe on the job repairing one of the canal breaks. The irrigation company had shut down the flow of water in the canal, the evening before.
Laurel and Steve Miner were also impacted by the flooding. The flood flowed through their back yard as well as their front yard. It took out their garden. There was a berm but the water flowed over it flooding their yard. Laurel said the water made a lot of noise as it came through her yard. She was at home at the time and her husband arrived home from work shortly after the initial flood event. The flood flowed through the subdivision and onto the intersection. The homes surrounding the intersection were all affected by the flooding.
Emery County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene as well as the fire departments from the cities. They worked to get sand bags in place to avoid more flood damage to the area. Severe thunderstorms overloaded the canal causing the breaks.