Taylorsville residents still displaced day after flood, mudslide

Though the water has receded, people still can't get into their homes.

Tuesday's heavy rains in Salt Lake County clogged a storm drain on Bangerter Highway and 5400 South, eventually swamping a complex at the Mulberry Park Townhomes with 3 feet of water.

A hillside then sloughed off at the complex at 5287 S. 3675 West, sending debris into a building.

Residents Alex and Amanda Acosta were at the movies when it happened, returning to find they could only get into their home to retrieve clothes for their daughters and nothing else.

"I'm wearing my dad's clothes," Alex Acosta said, while his wife was borrowing clothes from a friend.

The family is staying at his father's house until he can gain access, but is not sure when that will be. The uncertainty of it all has left his wife devastated.

"I've spent the majority of the day crying, " she said.

Alex said he feels powerless because he can do nothing.

Another resident couldn't work because his uniform was in his house. Danny Darrington said he is anxious and wonders when he and his family can return home.

"Not knowing is the worst part," Darrington said.

His family is staying with his sister until they can go home.

Other areas of the west side were also affected. John Butts lives in a downstairs apartment at Buena Vista Apartments at 4425 Christopherson Drive in Kearns. He said water has been leaking in his utility room since the night before. Although nothing is damaged, the sheet rock on the ceiling is bulging with moisture.

Pale Collins said her apartment was not affected so she sent her children to neighbor Jean Meiners, who lives in a downstairs apartment, to help her remove water with buckets, mops and brooms. Meiner said when the water hit it resembled a "small sized tsunami." She organized a bucket brigade made up of her grandchildren to bail water. One child would fill a bucket with water and hand it to the next until it reached the end of the line.

"I was taking buckets of water and throwing it in the mud," said her granddaughter Felisha Wendt.

Another storm hit later, but by then Meiner had makeshift sand bags to divert the water.

Meiner said none of her belongings were ruined due to the water and she was able to stay the night at her apartment. As of 11 a.m. her carpet was still wet.