CEDAR CITY — A crowd of at least 250 people filled the streets of a subdivision in the Cross Hollow area of Cedar City for a block party to mark the anniversary of the monsoon floods that hit the neighborhood last summer.
A portion of 350 South was closed off to through traffic for a few hours Tuesday evening to accommodate the festivities, which included a large inflatable slide and a bounce house; free shaved ice treats, popcorn and cotton candy; and other games.
Organizer and host David Westwood said the event took place exactly one year to the day after last summer’s storm, the aftermath of which had the same streets filled with people shoveling mud, clearing storm drains and placing sandbags.
As previously reported in St. George News / Cedar City News, the Cross Hollow area was among several places that were hit hard by flooding last summer, when 2 inches of rain fell in one hour’s time.
“I can’t even imagine the amount of service that was done that day,” Westwood said. “This is an incredible community right here. We had hundreds of people here helping.”
Westwood said the party was a way of saying thanks to all those who helped out last year.
“But then, also to heal a little bit, you know,” he added. “Our kids were getting pretty nervous for this month. They were getting really nervous about July and the monsoon storms coming, so we just thought we had to do something to make this a good day instead of a bad day. And so we decided to turn it into a party.”
Westwood said he and his neighbors are appreciative of the efforts that the Cedar City Council members and city staff have made to address drainage issues in the area.
Those include planned improvements to an existing detention basin where Cross Hollow Drive turns north (across the road from Silver Silo), plus proposed plans for a second, smaller detention basin just to the south of Cody Drive.
“Honestly the city has been fantastic to us,” he said. “They were right on top of it, letting us know their plans right from the beginning.”
Westwood called last year’s event, which flooded yards and basements throughout the neighborhood and even carried his backyard shed out into the middle of the street, “a fluke thing.”
“It’s probably never going to happen again like that,” he said. “But you know, it’s just neat to see the city do things just to make everyone else feel safe. If something like that does happen again, they’ve remediated.”
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