Utah Declares State of Emergency as Record Snow Accumulation Starts to Melt
Utah Declares State of Emergency as Record Snow Accumulation Starts to Melt
Published : 20-Apr-2023 08:04
Utah's governor Spencer Cox has declared a state of emergency warning that melting snow is likely to cause months of flooding in the state.
The snowpack on Utah's mountains is currently averaging 200% the norm and several ski areas including Alta and Snowbird have posted more than 800" (20 metres) of snowfall through the season, their all-time record levels, with the snow still lying up to five metres deep.
Under a state of emergency, Utah can access funds from its disaster recovery account and be able to request additional funding from federal and other states' agencies. Local officials are reported to have issued evacuation orders for a small number of homes in communities thought to be in particular danger of serious flooding as temperatures rise.
Along with potentially months of flooding, there are warnings of possible avalanches, landslides, mudslides and rockslides.
More than a million sandbags have been used by Utah's Division of Emergency Management to prepare for expected flooding and federal employees from all departments have been offered time off in order to help fill more sandbags.
More Utah ski areas have announced they're staying open into May, including Brighton, Snowbird, Solitude and America's largest ski area, Park City.
The record snowfall fits both with climate change deniers arguments that there's still lots of snow and climate scientists' warnings of more extreme weather events.
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