ST. GEORGE — A fast-moving deluge of rain poured down upon Hurricane Saturday morning, flooding the parking lot next Hurricane High School and creating standing water along portions of State Street.
Hurricane Athletics Director Marcus Matua, who shot some of the above video, told St. George News that while the parking lots surrounding the high school were flooded with inches of water, there did not appear to be any damage to the sports fields.
Matua also reported that the girls varsity soccer game between the Tigers and visiting Payson, originally scheduled for 11 a.m., was canceled due to the conditions.
Video footage above also shows the deep water in the parking lot at Bucks Ace Hardware, 489 State Street.
Manager Joe Johnson said the river running down State Street avoided his store, for the most part. At least one of his employees parked in the high school parking lot next door did experience flooded cars.
“We did ok, the high school parking lot and State Street got the most water,” Johnson said. “There was at least two feet of water running down the road.”
Johnson explained that sports facilities at Hurricane High School and the surrounding properties are designed with a drainage system that will channel heavy rains out onto the highway.
“The only problem is, when it comes down that heavy — the highway was already a river,” Johnson said. “Once the rain stopped, most of the water was gone in 30 to 45 minutes too.”
Effects of the heavy rain, as shown in the video above, were also seen in LaVerkin, where standing water pooled on side streets.
According to U.S. Climate Data, here are rain fall totals Saturday morning: 1 inch in Hurricane, .70 of an inch in LaVerkin and .67 of an inch fell on Springdale. Further, parts of Zion National Park received up to 1.66 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued a flash flood warning for Kane County in Southern Utah until 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Life threatening flash flooding in normally dry washes, slot canyons and rivers,” the weather alert said. “Some locations that will experience flash flooding include the Paria River from the headwaters to the Arizona border.”
The weather alert urged motorists who experience heavy flooding to “turn around, don’t drown.”
A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 7:00 p.m. on Saturday for many areas in Southern Utah, including parts of Beaver, Iron, Garfield and Washington counties.
Some areas in Iron County could experience “nickel-ball sized” hail with wind gusts of up to 50 mph, the forecast warned.
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