Ward Response to 1983 Floods

"The Great Floods of 1983 and 1952," by Ronald Fox, Deseret News, May 22, 2011.

The front page of the Sunday, May 29, 1983 Deseret News headlined, "Wet weekend anything but a holiday," with a photo of residents of Salt Lake City, sandbags and rushing water along City Creek just south of Memory Grove. The article then had bullet points of where severe flooding was taking place throughout Utah including this entry, "Homes and businesses along Stone and Barton creeks in Bountiful flooded, and Fourth East and several other streets were closed."

The flooding was bad enough to capture the attention of the New York Times that reported on June 4, 1983, "In Bountiful, the hardest-hit town in Davis County, National Guardsmen and volunteers took advantage of the respite from torrential rains to shore up banks along rivers swollen by melting snow. The rivers had forced the evacuation of about 1,100 residents." The article concluded, "Federal officials said 250 homes in Bountiful and 40 houses in Farmington were damaged by either floods or mudslides. About 100 Centerville homes also suffered flood damage."

Such is the context for a few pages of notes in the 9th Ward's manuscript history housed at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. It reminds me of a scripture in 3rd Nephi where Christ said, "I know my sheep, and they are numbered." The pages list out individual members of the ward and their specific needs. This is how Latter-day Saints do disaster relief. The organization is already in place. Each individual is known by name.

I did not live in Bountiful in 1983. I did not see this response take place. But I can imagine it thanks to an image that is emblazoned in my mind some 30 or so years later on a Sunday morning of Bishop Stephen Johnson standing in his jeans and work shirt in front of a white board in the 9th Ward chapel's cultural hall organizing cleanup efforts from a wind storm that had felled trees throughout the ward. Church was canceled and members gathered in work clothes to get things done and help those in need.

That tradition of helping our neighbors, and letting our neighbors help us, can be seen annually in ward neighborhood cleaning activities affectionately called "Dirt and Dogs" (or is it "Dirt and Dawgs?"). Neighbor helping neighbor, regardless of faith, history, or background, just need. These pages of history from the flood of 1983 can't help but lead one to reflection.