Averie Klonowski joined the FOX 13 News team in September 2024. A Phoenix native, she is thrilled to be back out west to continue her journalism career in Utah.
TOOELE, Utah — Many residents of Tooele County were awoken by storms Saturday morning — not their typical wake-up call. “I woke up at 6 a.m., and I looked out the window, and it was just dumping everywhere,” said 9-year-old JJ Calder.
“A lot of lightning, a lot of thunder. It woke us up around 5 a.m.,” added Brian Hess. Hess said it’s been years since he’s seen a storm like this one in Tooele County. 'The backyard is completely saturated. The ducks are swimming on the back lawn,” he said. WATCH: Month after mudslide, Provo residents worried ahead of weekend stormsHe and others like Don Yei, who also lives in the area, were happy to see the summer weather come to an end. 'We’ll take all the snow we can get. We just want it to melt slowly,” said Yei.Yei has lived in Tooele his whole life. He says this is just the way storms roll through. 'Sometimes we get weather that comes off the lake and it dumps a whole bunch, and sometimes it comes over the mountain,” he said. 'People that live in low-lying places like this live in the floodplains, so they’re going to get flooded.' Tooele County emergency management officials said they started getting calls early Saturday morning. 'In Tooele City, we have some reports of some homes that have been flooded. Fire crews have been out assisting and investigating,” said Assistant County Manager Brittany Lopez. There was flooding and debris on roadways. By late afternoon, the county had heard from 32 homes with damage.'People have to be prepared,' he said. 'I’m fine, but everybody else was like, 'Come help us!' I’m like, 'OK.'”That’s exactly how he spent his Saturday: helping his neighbors. 'I came down to get more pumps for them, but it’s just, you know, you can’t fight Mother Nature and you’ll never win with water,” said Yei.Tooele County is asking people to report damage online. 'We have our reporting system that we have put on our Tooele Emergency Management Facebook page that we’re pushing people to,” said Lopez.Emergency management, fire crews and public works are mitigating the flooding and will be working on clean up through the weekend.Most people are grateful for the rainfall. “I think living in a dry desert climate, we’re always grateful for rain,” said Lopez.And even the snow, too. 'Oh, it’s nuts. Going to be some good deer hunting with all the snow up there,” said Hess.
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