Scott Nelson
4-23-02
Tornado like weather strikes Utah
An estimated 60,000 Utahns lost their power
on Monday during a record-breaking storm that ripped through Utah. The power
remained off for most people in Salt Lake City into Tuesday and wasn’t restored
until that evening. Though some did not regain power until Thursday or Friday.
The storm was reminiscent of the tornado that tore through Salt Lake City
in August of 1999. Shari Hanson is a student at the University of Utah from
Arizona; “I have never seen anything like this in Utah. It was weird and gloomy
and it reminded me of monsoons that we have in Arizona, where the dust fills
the air and you cant see for days.”
This severe storm started with heavy
winds in the morning and ended with rain, hail and snow in the evening. “Wind
gusts reached 50 to 75 mph and the barometric pressure measured was the lowest
ever recorded at the Salt Lake International Airport at 29.00 inches,” said
Brek Bolton, meteorologist for channel 4Utah. The storm reaped havoc and caused
distress to many. Schools were closed, businesses lost power and damages were
reported throughout the state. The wind caused severe dust storms at the point
of the mountain and many compared the visibility to fog. The dust clouds caused
a semi tractor-trailer to blow over, which blocked all but one northbound lane.
The nightly commute for many
was hindered by fallen power lines and the loss of power to traffic lights.
Many Utahns arrived home to find their power out and damage to their property.
“When I came home from work the first thing I saw was about 90% of our fence
tipped over. I also found a piece of our rain gutter hanging down the side of
the house,” said Bill Ward of Draper.
Many
found themselves helpless without electricity and some needed it to survive.
Brooke Curry of Bluffdale rented a generator, “We had to rent a generator to
keep the food in our fridge cold and a family down the street that has a boy on
life sustaining support had to rent one until IHC could bring them one,” The
Curries did not regain power until Friday afternoon, two full days after they
lost it.
Utah Power and Light had 60
crews working on a dozens fallen power lines. Utah Power had to hire
contractors to do some of the work, some of which came from Washington, Oregon,
Idaho and Wyoming. The crews worked late Monday night and into Tuesday morning,
trying to get all fallen lines repaired.
The loss of
power caused many restaurants to close down for the night and many reported
that they had lost money on wasted food. Television and radio stations
experiences technical difficulties through the storm. Some radio stations went
off the air for several hours due to their transformers being affected by the
weather. “We were right in the middle of a Golf show when a listener called in
and told us that we weren’t on the air,” said Carter Osbourne, a producer at
1280 KZN radio network.
April weather in Utah is known
for its erratic storms and strange weather patterns. This record-breaking storm
is another chapter in Utah’s weird weather album.