Snow Piling Up a Flood Threat for Northern Utah

As we start to move out of the winter season little by little and temperatures start to rise again to welcome spring, some communities are facing big concerns when it comes to snow piles. One of these areas would be Weber County's Eden city in the state of Utah.

In this article, we talk about what's going on in Eden, Utah, and why snow piling up is creating one of the biggest risks for flooding during this season.

NORTHERN UTAH FACES SNOW PROBLEMS

Residents and locals of Eden City, Utah face big concerns with the snowfall amount this week. According to one resident in the city, they received at least 3 feet of snow just this week. This rings true especially when you look start to look at the Snowbasin Resort which received 33 inches of snow in just 24 hours. 

For some residents, this winter is considered to be the worst. So, how does snow impact the potential for flooding the community of Eden?

SNOW AND FLOOD

For some people, the spring season is the best season of the year. If you don't have allergic reactions to all the pollen and flowers blooming, this is generally the best season to go out. You can't even deny that once all those plants bloom again as they move out of the cold winter weather, it's definitely "Instagrammable".

If we look a few years back, we saw this type of devastating flood event during the spring season in Nebraska in 2019. What some would call "The Great Flood of 2019" caused about $1.3 billion in damages across the state and took three lives when the Missouri River Basin was overwhelmed with bomb cyclones and caused a lot of flooding across the Midwest. In Iowa, this event even impacted their access to fresh water.

Why did this happen? Well, generally this is because of the rapid snowmelt and when the snow melts, it has to go somewhere. The important thing one should show about spring runoff is that it mostly happens under the condition that natural soil is already oversaturated with water and can no longer take in more. So the excess water goes into low-lying areas causing flooding to communities.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

One thing we highly recommend is keeping a safe distance from the foundation of your property or your home from the snowpack in your yard. It's easy to forget the fact that it doesn't really take that much precipitation and snow to create about two inches of surface water. Generally, we recommend a safe distance of about 6 inches to 1 foot.

It's important to ensure that you steer clear from snow in general because, during the spring season, we can expect spring thunderstorms and spring precipitation which only worsens runoff during this time. So things like heavy rain, storms, and atmospheric rivers can easily worsen the melting snow and produce more runoff.

In Eden, Utah's case, 3 feet of heavy snow can be easily melted by a couple of inches of rain.

We always say that when things like this happen, it's important to be close to your smartphone, TV, or the news to get your weather forecasts ahead of time in order for you to prepare ahead of time.

You can access the National Water and Climate Center, National Weather Service, or your local news to get recent forecasts on the weather during this season.

FLOOD INSURANCE IN SPRING

The most important thing that can protect you and your property from getting taken down by flood damages and not being able to bounce back from flood loss is flood insurance. However, take this as a precautionary reminder that flood insurance may be hard to find during the spring season starting in the month of March, especially for private flood insurance.

During the spring season, some private flood insurance companies would go on moratoriums which simply means that they won't provide insurance during that period. They will only cater to people who already have an active policy with them, so if you're applying for one, it may really be hard to find.

Getting into private flood insurance as soon as now can really help you resolve the concern of insuring your property because they only have a waiting period of 3 to 15 days.

Although the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) don't really do moratoriums, you still should be aware that you might not get flood insurance from them immediately because of their strict 30-day wait period.

If you are ready to take the next steps to get the right flood insurance coverage then there are three simple steps.

• Fill out this form —
• Talk with our flood education specialist.
• Get back to the important things in your life.

Got more flood insurance questions? Visit our Flood Learning Center below to know more: