The city of Hurricane in far southwestern Utah declared a local emergency on Thursday, October 22, after flash flooding swamped a neighbourhood in the desert city, impacting 80 residential homes and 50 recreational vehicles at the Willow Wind RV Park, according to the Associated Press, which cited city officials.

Source: Associated Press via Los Angeles Post

Hurricane City Emergency Services said in a press release that city crews and emergency partners were responding to significant flooding and infrastructure damage across the community, and officials issued a Proclamation of Local Emergency to address the flooding and assess the damage, FOX Weather reported. Residents living near Gould Wash were ordered to evacuate immediately as floodwaters inundated the area.

Source: FOX Weather

According to city officials cited by FOX Weather, bridges, culverts, public roadways and electrical power boxes were damaged or destroyed across the city, and mud and debris covering roadways raised public-safety concerns and threatened essential services. The flooding followed more than an inch of rain in 12 hours over the typically dry region, and local reporting put rainfall across Washington County at 1 to 2 inches, triggering flash flood warnings in Hurricane, La Verkin and Virgin.

80homes impacted in Hurricane
50RVs at Willow Wind RV Park
1–2 inrain reported across Washington County

Hurricane Police ordered residents at the Willow Wind complex, at 80 South 1150 West, and homes along Gould Wash to evacuate because of active or imminent flooding, according to local reporting. Medical personnel were staged at the Coral Cliffs movie theater on West State Street, and an emergency shelter was opened at the LDS Stake Center at 272 South 700 West for people displaced by the water.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on social media that the state was closely monitoring the flash flooding in Hurricane and that his thoughts were with the families whose homes and livelihoods had been impacted, FOX Weather reported. The Utah flooding was part of the same severe-weather system that brought flooding and evacuations to southern Colorado and tornado damage in Arizona a day earlier, the Associated Press reported. No deaths had been reported in the initial reports from Hurricane.