Salt Lake County Prepares for Potential Flooding

Officials in Salt Lake County are preparing for potential flooding this year by filling thousands of sandbags and stockpiling large rocks.

The Deseret News reports the county will have about 10,000 sandbags filled by the end of April. The mountains have record snowpack this year.

The county has also stockpiled about 400 tons of large rocks to be placed along creeks and rivers to prevent them from overflowing.

Authorities say if temperatures make a sudden jump this year, it could overwhelm channels downstream.

This year’s conditions are similar to 1983, when rivers flooded homes and even forced the city to convert the six-lane State Street in downtown into a temporary river.