SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert deployed the Utah National Guard this morning to help with preparations in Davis County for another major storm expected to hit the area this afternoon, this time with snow in addition to high winds.
"It's scary. I think everyone's a little frightened," Bountiful homeowner Sheree Kerr said as volunteers cleared her yard after last week's winds felled two of her trees and sent branches from a third into her neighbor's home. "None of us knows what to expect."
Herbert is also sending workers from the Utah Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety to communities including Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington and Kaysville, in the hopes of avoiding property damage and personal injury from flying debris left from last week's storm.
"Please immediately secure loose material on your property, home or business," Herbert advised Utahns. "Then, once the storm arrives, please remain indoors and off the roads, if possible. Anticipate further power outages and prepare accordingly. Lastly, please look out for your neighbors. This is going to take a team effort."
The state's Emergency Operations Center and the county's local emergency command center are being activated and the National Guard is mobilizing dump trucks and other heavy equipment and will provide traffic control at the county's landfill.
Local residents are being asked to use their own trucks and trailers to assist in the clean-up effort. Church services in the area are being cancelled and some communities are utilizing their reverse 911 system to alert residents.
Doug Smith, the owner of a hauling company, rounded up 17 trucks to haul piles of tree limbs to the Bountiful dump after getting an early morning call from his LDS Church stake president.
We've just been going from pile to pile," Smith said as snow started to fall. "The limbs that are cut free, they're going to travel and break windows out. They're going to be a terrible mess."
A staging area has been set up at 700 South Main in Bountiful, where city officials are identifying priority areas for the initial National Guard response.
Centerville temporary waste collection sites include the LDS Church stake centers at 400 E. 300 North and 950 N. Main Street, Island View Park, and the Freedom Hills Park for green waste. The city's Smoot Park west parking lot site is full.
Centerville's LDS Church stake center at 400 E. 300 North is also accepting non-green waste. The city announced mid-afternoon that no more waste will be accepted at Community Park.
Farmington residents can take green waste to the sewer district or to the Layton landfill, which will not be charging fees today and is accepting both green and non- green waste.
In Kaysville, both green and non-green waste can be taken to 1285 S. Angel Street and volunteers are being sought in the King Clearing/upper Crestwood area, behind City Hall and the Ponds Park
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