When the waters rose, so did the community — Block party held after SLC flooding

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Salt Lake City neighborhood of Rose Park, near Sir Philip Drive, looked very different Thursday evening than it did just days ago after surprise flooding damaged homes.

Flooding engulfed the streets along Sir Philip Drive over the weekend between 900 north and 800 north in Rose Park, and neighbors were impacted.

“You couldn’t see the road or the curbs; you were walking through water as high as your boots or higher,” Daniel Winder said.

Daniel Winder’s home was one of nearly 25 damaged in the unexpected flash flooding.

“I was in shock until about yesterday, until I was like ‘Oh, this is real,'” Winder said.

Despite the destruction, this community came together, stepping in to help their neighbors. More than 150 people brought in supplies, pumped water, picked up debris, and worked to take out damaged sheetrock. Dumpsters were also brought in for water-damaged items.

“This is our community; there’s deep pride in Rose Park. We love these good people, and we want to be our brothers’ keeper and help those around us. This is a tight-knit community, so once folks heard about the challenges folks were having here, they were more than happy to come out,” Lance Dunkley said.

“Before, I thought I was alone in the neighborhood, and I never really knew my neighbors, but after this neighborhood now feels more like a family than a neighborhood. Everyone came together fast and had a lot of love to give and make sure we are recovering as well as we can,” Winder said.

Sandbags now line the streets of this neighborhood in preparation for the rain that is set to hit this weekend.

“Hopeful we have addressed the city and county enough about getting this canal cleaned out and running the amount of  pumps to get the water to be able to get the water to move out of the canal but I’m going to keep the sandbags in front of my house at least until the end of this week to make sure the weekend rains don’t catch us off guard again,” Winder said.