Deseret News | Draper residents clean up after mudslides

Reader comments
Draper residents clean up after mudslides

Home locations | 7:26 p.m. June 18, 2009

This is what happens when you live in a home with a view.

Anonymous | 7:59 p.m. June 18, 2009

"He explained how a wildfire last year had uprooted the plants and trees that could have kept the mud at bay."

Fires don't uproot plants and trees. Fires don't have shovels, backhoes or even opposable thumbs to uproot plants and trees.

Fires burn off everything above the ground level and kill the plant or tree. The roots die and they no longer hold the hillside as well as they did when they were alive. Additionally, the water absorbs directly into the newly burned ground rather than hitting the plants and being absorbed by their leaves and root systems.

No, the fire didn't uproot anything. A writer should know better.

JamesRobertWalton | 8:24 p.m. June 18, 2009

is this close to the Draper Temple?

Comments continue below

re: Anonymous | 8:59 p.m. June 18, 2009

What a silly comment. I'm glad we all have our facts straight, meanwhile a family's home is ruined. But really: let's talk about the science of fire and trees.

re: Anonymous | 9:15 p.m. June 18, 2009

Great observation! you should be a news editor.

Clare | 9:16 p.m. June 18, 2009

Retaining walls, although expensive, would have prevented this. I teach my students about the danger of building on the side of a mountain. Gravity always wins. I'm glad no one was physically hurt.

Hero of Canton | 2:05 a.m. June 19, 2009

Hold on a second...people build houses where nature says they shouldn't and they are dismayed at what happens? Something like this happened before...think think think...New Orleans?

re re Anonymous 8:59 | 6:18 a.m. June 19, 2009

This is a different poster, but it's not such a silly comment. I don't feel bad for people that have this happen to them any more than those who build homes next to a river and have a flash flood wash them out...or for that matter build a home below sea level in New Orleans and have it flooded. Think of the poor deer and other animals that have been killed by having their homes stolen by these houses.

re: Clare | 7:41 a.m. June 19, 2009

Retaining walls hold back small volumes of dirt, not sliding mountains.

Anonymous | 8:43 a.m. June 19, 2009

"I don't feel bad for people that have this happen to them any more than those who build homes next to a river and have a flash flood wash them out...or for that matter build a home below sea level in New Orleans and have it flooded. Think of the poor deer and other animals that have been killed by having their homes stolen by these houses."

Glad to know how much humanity matters to all of us.

By the way, disasters happen everywhere - each type of area has its own type of disaster. And I'm sure your home also pushed some little squirrel out of its hole. Or did you build on Mars? That's the only place you couldn't have displaced something yourself.

Clear The Debris And Build | 8:46 a.m. June 19, 2009

Keep building higher and higher, then want assistance from cities and citizens? Lets get real! Too bad but who cares?

SLC gal | 8:57 a.m. June 19, 2009

While I feel bad for the family, I imagine that mudslide must have been something to see.
Seriously you hear glass break and the last thing you expect is a bunch of mud in your basement, right?

Mother Nature | 9:18 a.m. June 19, 2009

Hope everyone is aware that YOUR tax $ are paying for emergency wildfire suppression and resultant mudslides all along the Wasatch Front. Local planning and zoning permits homes to be built higher & higher up the foothills. And homeowners who build in these areas demand the highest level of protection from fire, flooding, etc. There should be impact fees and/or additional insurance requirements for these homes to help foot the bill for emergency costs and also go into an open space fund for acquistion of private lands where homes should not be built in the first place. Homeowners don't understand the risks.

Californian | 11:38 a.m. June 19, 2009

Every time I read the unkind comments (implying they deserve what they got) posted by folks who blame the homeowner for building his house wherever they don't approve, I am shocked at the mean-spiritedness of it all. The same kind of comments were posted after the fires last year. Whether a house burns or is flooded in a modest or upscale community, it is still a loss for the man, woman and children who live there. Those homes were not built on BLM land...they were approved by cities and are legal. Fire and other emergency services are just as deserved by those taxpayers as anyone else.
The nicest part of the article was the outpouring of neighborhood support for these families. That is how we should be acting.

Former Utahn | 1:11 p.m. June 19, 2009

In the easy world of commenting on new stories it is easiest to blame, and hardest to do something about it. Critizing the writing style? It's the homeowners fault? Taxpayer money? How about helping out with the cost and physically digging in. Oh, that is right the City has taken over the cleanup.

@ Californian | 1:23 p.m. June 19, 2009

I agree with you on many of your points. But at the same time, this is no surprise. You build on a mountain, you have inherent risk with it.

To re re Anonymous 8:59 | 2:18 p.m. June 19, 2009

"Think of the poor deer and other animals that have been killed by having their homes stolen by these houses."

Hey Einstein, your perfect little house didn't displace any little critters? That is one of the dumbest comments I have ever heard. Every house in this valley contributes to displacing animals, including yours. Once upon a time your house would have contributed to the expansion of developed area.

bilko from san pedro | 5:44 p.m. June 19, 2009

I tell you what.That guy Nick Benuska, i hope he's around when we get the big quake out here in Cailf.You folk's in Utah are lucky to have a citizen of that caliber around willing to lend a helping hand in time of need. Somebody need's to hire him.

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