Floods hit Utah: Cache, Brigham City are among hardest-hit areas

Elsewhere in the state, quick action by officials in Cedar Fort minimized flood damage in the Utah County community that suffered extensive damage last year. Cedar Fort volunteer fire chief Mike Penovich said just two homes near the town center were impacted by this week's flooding, and minimally at that. A confined basement area of one home was flooded with one to two inches of water, and the window well of another was damaged.

In Salt Lake County, reports of a man being struck by lightning turned out to be non-threatening.

Just before 5 p.m., thunderstorms sent a lively bolt to the ground near 6200 W. 2700 South in West Valley City. Two men witnessed the charge and "felt something in the ground afterwards," said West Valley City Fire Capt. Ron Rigby.

No one was injured, but one man requested to be taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

In southern Utah, residents and officials anxiously watched water levels rise on the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers.

"It looks like muddy chocolate milk, but we haven't had any flooding reported in the county yet," said Washington County Commissioner Jim Eardley. "I think we're in pretty good shape."

Both the Santa Clara and the Virgin were running high, but the flow was nowhere near the levels reported during January's devastating floods, said Dean Cox, Washington County's emergency services director.

"We want to caution people to be very careful around the water, though," said Cox. "As the weather begins to get nicer and people start heading outdoors, they need to remember that the waterways can be very dangerous."

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Contributing: Marin Decker, Wendy Leonard, Laura Hancock and Nancy Perkins.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com; jdougherty@desnews.com