Residents pour in to help Logan neighbors

LOGAN — Larry Jardine rushed home from South Jordan after his daughter-in-law called to tell him floodwaters from the canal above his Logan home had poured into his home. When he arrived, neighbors and complete strangers were shuffling through his home carrying water-logged mementos he'd gathered throughout his life.

"It's absolutely amazing, great people — that's what I thought," Jardine said. "As I walked in, I saw treasures from all my life, and I thought, what great people."

Police estimated that more than 300 residents from the surrounding area descended on the floodplain to assist those in need. With shovels and brooms, they worked to clear the roadways and damaged houses.

Neighbors with heavy equipment were on scene collecting mud that had piled in the area. Debrah Fluckiges and her husband brought a water pump from their home to assist in the cleanup.

"We're just trying to remove items we can now," said Fluckiges, a resident of the area of Logan known as the Island. "We just want to save what we can."

The outpouring of support from the community left Jardine grinning, even as his wife showed him a box filled with water.

"It's neighbors out here working," Jardine said. "I don't even know most of them."

His basement was filled with 3 to 4 inches of water. Christmas ornaments, vinyl records and family pictures were strewn across the front yard drying. When the canal broke the water pushed itself down Crockett Avenue, silt piled in the roadway and funneled water into Jardine's window wells, he said.

The Cache County chapter of the American Red Cross set up a shelter for displaced families at an LDS ward house near 600 East and Center Street.

At least five families consisting of a total of between 20 to 25 people, including 10 children and two infants, sought help from the Red Cross Saturday. Cots were being set up in rooms where most of those people were expected to stay the night. Food, drinks, basic toiletries and even counselors were available to those evacuated. Throughout the day, people from the ward stopped by the church to donate more food and beverages. One family dropped off a portable crib. Village Inn donated dinners to those displaced.

"It's great how the community can come together," said Red Cross coordinator Dixie Cooper.

The church was expected to hold sacrament meeting as scheduled today but then end church early so ward members could go to the command post near the homes affected and help sandbag or do whatever else is needed, said Cooper.

Those forced to leave their homes and go to the shelter didn't even have time to shut the front doors, she said. But they were dealing with the situation as best they could.

"They're just glad to have a place to stay," Cooper said. "The kids are having fun. Hopefully everyone is going to stay as comfortable as possible."

Most of the children were kept entertained running around in the church gymnasium.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com; cnorlen@desnews.com