Moab assessing damage after two 50-year floods in a week [Video]

After two intense flash floods that are estimated to be in the 50-year-flood range hit Moab and surrounding areas within a week in the latter part of June, the city is assessing the damage, coordinating recovery efforts and planning future mitigation efforts.

A 50-year-flood is defined as a flood that has about a 2% chance of happening within any given year.

The damages

“I’m aware of basements and crawl spaces flooding, I’m even aware of some garages where water flowed through,” said Michael Black, community development director for Moab. “There were a couple of homes [between 100 West and 500 West] where the entire house was surrounded 360 degrees by flood water, but I’m not aware of any damage to the homes themselves.”

He added everyone who he and other city employees have heard from have said their houses are still livable.

“We didn’t receive a lot of sustained damage to our …