Danger - Water Ahead

In the last few months, there have been far too many water related deaths in Utah. For the families involved – ONE is too many. Here are some links to news stories recently which have taken the lives of children in our area
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/south/genola/article_58a955f9-b955-5d26-905e-259e02e3c6cf.html

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15740924

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705374190/Tooele-boy-pulled-from-river-becomes-4th-Utah-child-to-drown-in-past-2-weeks.html

http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-drowning-child-rescued-from-provo-river-20110604,0,6842245.story

Again, even one is too many. Today, as well as tracking the progression of the water, I want to offer a wood of warning. One is too many.

Yesterday, that one could have been mine

As we made our (almost) daily walk down the orchard road – kids splashing in the water, mom taking pictures and video – this is what I came upon.
All of us were within close proximity to each other. We were all on foot. All within eyesight but probably not within arm’s reach. Suddenly, I was looking at this. Joseph. Wet from his neck down. When I asked him if he had tripped, he said “no, I fell in the hole”. The only sibling who had even seen him fall into the hole is a 5 year old and he did not even yell a warning. Apparently he thinks his brother can swim! And thankfully, Joseph said he did swim out. We found out later yesterday that the hole is somewhere between 6 and 8 feet deep. I think I will keep up my prayers of gratitude for a while!!!

To be honest, I must admit – when I had seen the amount of water rushing down the road, I wondered about the safety of letting my children walk in it one more time.

I had even gone so far as to say no. And then I caved to child pressure, took off my shoes and socks and walked with my children in the water – thinking that they would be remembering this summer forever.

I am so grateful they will be having fun, pleasant memories of the walk.

I have a feeling, were it not for unseen angels, it

may have turned out very differently.

As this water moves down through town, please know of the dangers, clear and hidden. Know that almost all children are fascinated by water, and that water-related accidents can happen in the blink of an eye.

And for an update on the water itself……….

the flow of the water seems to be increasing each day.

Many people are working very hard on this water situation, changing paths of water depending on the current levels. Earlier this week, water was running down the south side of the highway. It took the reservoir from looking like this:

To this in just about 48 hours

It is just about full to capacity, and it looks like plans have been made to divert any overflow out of the reservoir, down the road to the north to the low spot, and across the fields (near the orchard road).

When we moved to Genola, this reservoir was always full to the edges. As much as I have worried about the flood water, and it’s effects on our community, I have missed this beautiful sight!!!

Because the reservoir is almost full, more water is being sent down between our house and Johnsons. The waterfall is very large and is creating quite a bit of erosion.