Sandbag station open in Tooele as residents brace for more rain

TOOELE, Utah (ABC4) — With a chance of heavy rains again this weekend, Public Works in Tooele is providing a sandbag and sand fill-up station at the Public Works Campus.

“Filling sandbags so we can prepare for the storm, they say it’s going to be another record-breaking storm this weekend,” Tooele resident Ammon Eyre said.

Eyre spent some time filling up sandbags in preparation for the predicted rainy weather, after Tooele saw several inches of rain just last Saturday.

Tooele County said that the storm on Saturday had characteristics of a 100-year storm, bringing heavy rainfall.

“We had lots of water, and it flooded the garage. We had an inch or two inches of water in the garage, completely from front to back of the garage, full of water,” Eyre said.

After last weekend’s floods, Eyre does not want to take any chances.

“I’m going to get four or five to put in front of the target to keep the water from flowing into the garage,” Eyre said.

Neither does Tooele resident Dylan Hodges, who also prepares for whatever the weather brings.

“Use the sandbags to divert the flow away from the property and on the road, because if anything like last week, I don’t want to spend four hours fixing rocks,” Hodges said.

Last weekend’s storm swept away more than a quarter of the landscaping rocks at Hodges’ mother’s house.

“I noticed a bunch of rocks from my mom’s parking strip were gone, and after it dried up, I found all the rocks in the gutter down another street,” Hodges said.

With the anticipated rains this weekend, neighbors are hopeful that this time the rain does not bring as much damage.

“I kind of hope it doesn’t. I know we need moisture, but after last week, I think we need a break,” Eyre said.

The address for Tooele Public Works Campus is (1015 S. Coleman Street, near 1000 South Main Street/ SR-36), and that’s where sandbags are available.