Heavy storms set records, cause flooding in Salt Lake County; Grantsville man hospitalized after lightning strike

DRAPER — As the rain clouds cleared from a fast-moving summer storm that dumped record-setting rain across the Wasatch Front on Thursday, friends and family helped James and Kamie Ashton carry their belongings out of their flooded basement apartment.

When the rain started to fall, Ryan Kirton, Kamie Ashton's 16-year-old brother, noticed debris beginning to block a drain by their home near 1840 East and Pioneer Road. He used a neighbor's Bobcat tractor to try to clear the mess.

"There was really nothing I could do," he said as he used a vacuum on the floor where carpet had been earlier that day.

There were a few inches of water when Kirton ran into the basement to try to save some furniture and a television. That's when the water that had filled the window wells burst through the glass, dumping about 4 feet of water into the apartment.

Kamie Ashton grabbed a few photographs from her floating dresser and left.

The couple had just moved into the apartment six weeks ago, after their wedding.

Theirs was one of about 70 homes in Draper where damage was reported, said city spokeswoman Maridene Hancock.

Draper officials were looking for volunteers Thursday to help clear debris from neighborhoods throughout the city after a massive rainstorm dropped bouts of rain — especially through the Salt Lake Valley from 11:45 a.m. to noon — that bested 5-, 10- and 15-minute records of rainfall set in the 1940s and '50s.

The five-minute record of 0.34 of an inch set in 1945 was bested with Thursday's 0.39 of an inch in five minutes. The 10-minute record set in 1954 was also thrown out the window when a record of 0.66 inch rainfall hit the Salt Lake airport. And 0.87 inches of rain in 15 minutes Thursday also beat the old record in 1954 of 0.78 inch.

The 30-minute and one-hour rainfall records were not surpassed, despite Thursday's 0.99 inch in half an hour and 1.04 inches in an hour.

The heavy rainfall kept volunteers hopping throughout the afternoon. They were being asked to check in at a command post near 13200 South Highland Drive with shovels, gloves and small hand tools.

Parts of Highland Drive, Springdale Way and other roads in Draper had to be temporarily closed Thursday while backhoes and tractors worked to clear the mud and debris that raced down the hillside.