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Excess water from "heavy rainfall and snowmelt" Friday backed up Logan's sewage system and caused city officials to plead for residents to "avoid putting additional and unnecessary water down drains."
"This includes laundry, showers, dishes and flushing," a news release from Logan said.
The sewage system serves Utah State University, Smithfield, Hyde Park, Nibley, North Logan, Providence and River Heights.
"Sewer pipes are running at full capacity, and pumping facilities and the wastewater treatment plant headworks are struggling to keep up," the release said.
The city also advised residents to discharge stormwater or groundwater to yards or streets, rather than into sewer lines through sump pumps or manholes.
Weber County residents of more than two dozen Farr West homes reportedly continued to clean up raw sewage that bubbled up into their basements from drains overwhelmed by rain and snowmelt Monday and Tuesday.
Residents in rural Cache County spent much of Friday preparing for flooding that would begin at night and was expected to continue Saturday. In addition to sandbagging and making sure gutters were cleared of debris, neighbors shared pumps to handle the puddling on their lawns. Many roads had standing and flowing water, a Cache County news release said, and heavy fog was hampering visibility.
"Cache County resources are severely depleted, and there are not enough personnel to cover all the areas affected by flooding," the release said. Residents affected by flooding were instructed to contact city or town hall offices for sandbags, and residents in unincorporated areas may contact the county. North of Logan Canyon, floodwaters raced through the Bear Lake hamlet of Garden City on Friday, and Fire Chief Mike Wahlberg called out a small army of volunteers to battle the icy tide.
Rich County sheriff's deputies, other firefighters from the area and shovel-wielding residents filled and placed sandbags to confine the surge — triggered by warm temperatures, snowmelt and recent rains.
The flooding began at 4:30 a.m., when ice and snow dammed the Garden City Irrigation Canal, causing a breach, Wahlberg said.
Three of more than a dozen unoccupied vacation homes in the Harbor Village development had basements flooded a foot or more deep. By late morning, sandbaggers — 50 strong and aided by a backhoe operator — were on the way to building a diversion route on the town of 600's main street.
The sandbag river took the floodwaters to storm drains and into the lake. On Friday afternoon, the plan appeared to be working. Earlier, a more desperate backup plan had been considered to stretch the sandbags across U.S. 89. "We continue working on diverting the water, and we're also trying to check more of the immediate area for other flooding-related problems," Wahlberg said.
Volunteer Brian House said conditions were "extremely wet" and "miserable" between the rain, snow and cold.
On Friday, volunteers filled about 3,000 sandbags, House said. But with the combination of snow in the area and warmer temperatures forecast for the weekend, he believes this is only the beginning.
The town office has a list of volunteers who will be called to work 12-hour shifts as needed this weekend, House said.
"We just get busier and busier," Wahlberg said.
The National Weather Service expects more rain throughout the region this weekend.
"We have so much snow on the ground in the Garden City area right now, so much rain ... that it's just super-saturated with no place for the melt to go," said Bryce Nielson, Rich County emergency service manager.
In addition to the Harbor Village homes, Nielson said, public safety officials were keeping close watch on the Azure Cove area, another vacation-homes development where about 15, unoccupied residences could be threatened by flooding if rapid snowmelt and rain continue unabated.
"We're trying to get the word out to the owners to come on up and check out of their properties," Nielson said, noting that the county had laid in sandbags and sand for them, if needed.
After two days of steady rains, combined with unusually warm daytime temperatures, the National Weather Service said the flooding threat extends to low-lying areas of Morgan, Cache, Box Elder and Weber counties as well.
Twitter: @remims, @mnoblenews