Waterlogged Utahns hold breath and watch the skies

Clearer skies gave residents of Cache, Box Elder and Utah counties a little breathing room Saturday, but they continue to keep a watchful eye on the weather.

A light rain Friday night gave Cache County residents the chance to do more mopping up Saturday following last week's flooding that damaged homes and farms and, for a time, kept some roads underwater.

In Utah County, a slide of rain-loosened dirt that has come dangerously close to townhouses in Cedar Hills remained unchanged Saturday. But residents of the four units remained evacuated.

For now, officials in both counties are taking a "wait and see" approach.

"The rivers have gone down, things are looking good," said Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Matt Bilodeau. "I've checked our flood spots and our rivers, and everything's better than yesterday and yesterday was pretty good. Life's back to normal now."

That said, Mother's Day is coming up May 8 and that's always the hallmark date for spring rains.

"We're keeping an eye on everything — all reservoirs, all rivers. We're trying to monitor and gauge their flows and see where we're at," Bilodeau said.

"We've left sandbags in place as a cautionary measure because our rivers don't peak until three or four days before or after Mother's Day," Bilodeau said. "With the pending rain, it's best to open up driveways of homes but leave the sandbags."

In Cedar Hills, the dirt slid down the mountainside on Thursday and pushed up against a townhouse structure with four units, leaving a 15-foot-deep gash in the side of the hill.

"I looked out the back door and saw the mountain shifting," resident Vicki Sorenson said.

On Friday, dozens of residents met with the mayor and other city officials at a town meeting held in a local church demanding answers. Cedar Hills Mayor Mike McGee said if crews removed the dirt at the toe of the slide more dirt would fall

A geological survey was made before the city allowed the townhomes to be built and found the hillside stable. The city had to trust the survey, McGee said.

Officials continue to monitor the slide, but the dirt may need to dry out at least a week before any action can be taken, McGee said.

Homeowners in Nibley were "very much in agreement" that sandbags should stay in place, Bilodeau said.

Roads that were submerged were opened Saturday and people were cleaning up.