The devastation of the flood to the community, the impact to people that was happening right before your eyes, watching homes fall into the river and not being able to do anything was a feeling that I won’t forget – Mayor Rick Rosenberg
SANTA CLARA, Washington County — A decade ago the Santa Clara River breached its banks, destroying more than a dozen homes and damaging dozens more.
Over several days, the raging river caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. Despite all the devastation, however, the community came together and pulled through.
Lifelong Santa Clara resident Jim Ence has learned a lot about life from farming.
“I’m a dentist with a farming habit,” he said with a smile outside his home on Thursday.
One of those lessons is that the land bounces back with patience and persistence — even when faced with rushing, roaring water that, at times, seemed unstoppable a decade ago.
Looking at the same landscape now, Ence sees new life.
“As I look 10 years later, we do see the new trees coming in.”
The river was running above flood stage because of heavy rains in the area. Peak water flows in the 2005 flood were estimated at 6,000 cubic feet per second.
The dramatic unfolding of the situation showed homes crumbling into the roaring river as the water completely overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure and surrounding farmland. It’s a sight that comes to mind quickly for Santa Clara’s mayor.
“The devastation of the flood to the community, the impact to people that was happening right before your eyes, watching homes fall into the river and not being able to do anything was a feeling that I won’t forget,” said Mayor Rick Rosenberg, who was a member of the City Council at the time of the flooding.
More than a dozen homes were destroyed, and many more were considered uninhabitable. Roads, bridges and walking trails were also damaged. One man died when he was swept away from his vehicle. Flooding caused more than $180 million in damage to private and public property.
Community leaders and volunteers worked around the clock doing what they could to provide relief and offer support.
“The devastation was one thing, but the support and outpouring of love and assistance that came from the community was the other thing you’ll never forget,” Rosenberg said.
Santa Clara used a portion of disaster relief funds to construct a channel that helps keep the water level in the river contained. Near Ence’s home, the city and Washington County replaced a sewer line that the 2005 flood destroyed and provided extra protection by building up the river bank with large black rocks.
The area has had two floods since 2005 that were both declared to be federal disasters. Rosenberg said the modifications made after the 2005 floods helped and the channels have held up very well. Still, for Ence, there is something to be said about weathering the storm in the southern Utah community, a place his great-grandfather helped settle.
“Rebuilding was the right thing to do. There’s no place like Santa Clara, so we can’t leave. We’ve got to stay.”
Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc
Email: shall@deseretnews.com