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Show Pleasant Grove Review - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - Page 3 Officials: Rain, snow may bring more landslides Caieb Warnock Utah Valley staff Landslides could be heading to the benches of Pleasant Grove, and to Provo Canyon, warn Utah Geological Survey officials. Evidence is mounting th. above-normal rain and snowfa this winter could bring slow-m ing landslides of the kind th 1 flattened the town of Thistle 2 ; years ago, said Francis Ashlar . I, senior geologist with the Utdi Geological Survey. The landslides are not new, bu; they are areas that have histori cally slid in wet years, he said. "We are concerned because the:v was evidence of recent landsliding, he said. "From Cedar Hills to Provo, the Pleasant Grove monitoring station sta-tion data is telling us we might have damage because of sliding." Officials have not yet warned Pleasant Grove officials of the danger because the landslides are unlikely to move until the so-called so-called landslide season, which begins Mar. 1 and continues through June 15, he said. If they move, the landslides are likely to slowly engulf areas below them, rather than flash down the mountain, Ashland said. JJo official public announcement announce-ment of the danger is immediately immediate-ly planned, he said. The reason we are not putting it a public announcement is that rs is not the kind of hazard that I 'd cause the loss of life," he - d. "We are expecting mostly P ty damage." fficial warning of the exact and potential for danger ly be issued to Utah Coun-:rency Coun-:rency services officials in i 30 days, he said. ;'I be the responsibility of .a ' ' h County Sheriff's Office 1 1 sure the news is given to i '!r .-.at Grove officials, as well as I . v. i National Forest and Utah I tr. rtment of Transportation officials regarding the potential d .inger in Provo Canyon, he said. "What we are doing is tracking this information for emergency management officials: basically state, county and local officials who would have to respond to an emergency if there is one," Ashland Ash-land said. "What we are doing is making sure government officials know so they are not caught unaware." The Utah County Sheriff's Office did not return calls for comment. com-ment. Ashland said Utah Geological Survey staff have been carefully monitoring both the benches of Pleasant Grove and unstable -areas of Provo Canyon since the early 1990s. Earlier this month, staff members gave a detailed report to Geological Survey board members of the potential for landslides land-slides this spring. A slide area in Spanish Fork Canyon is also being monitored, but it has shown no sign of potential poten-tial movement, he said. But the benches of Pleasant Grove and the lower portion of Provo Canyon are anything but normal this year, according to Utah Geological Survey data. The Pleasant Grove bench has seen 149 percent of the normal precipitation, with 3.7 inches more water than normal, which could lead to prime conditions for a slide if there is any snowmelt to raise the underground water table in March, he said. According to Ashland, there has already been some minor slid ing in the area. "Nothing of any consequence," he said. "But it is telling us that the conditions necessary to reactivate reacti-vate these old landslides are happening." hap-pening." The last time the slide zone along the Pleasant Grove bench moved was in the spring of 1998, he said. Before that, Ashland said, it moved in 1983. "Pleasant Grove is wetter than anything we've seen since 1983, so it is possible we will see more landsliding than we saw in the late 1990s," he said. Existing slide slopes "may reactivate reac-tivate or move again," he said. "There are a number of landslide areas on that bench a dozen or so." The area of highest concern in Utah County is the area below Deer Creek Dam, he said. The dam itself is unlikely to be in danger. The lower portion of Provo Canyon is having its wettest year in recorded history, he said. The area has seen 7.7 inches more water than normal so far this winter win-ter about 170 percent of the normal precipitation. Even if the canyon gets no more precipitation for the next threS months, Water levels will still b above normal when the landslide season begins in full force, he said. "I think it would be very unlikely that we have no more precipitation," he said. The only good news in these scenarios is that "last year was a drier-than-normal year, so we are not coming off back-to-back wet years," he said, which would only increase the potential for danger. If there is no snowpack to melt in Pleasant Grove and Provg Canyon this spring, that would, somewhat reduce the danger, a landslides are more likely when underground water tables rise up to meet already-soaked soils. "If we don't have a snowpack, we won't have a melt, and we won't see that dramatic rise in springtime spring-time ground-water levels," he saidA Weather during the next 3Q days will likely determine whether there will be a snowpack to melt when warm spring weathi er arrives, he said. Caleb Warnock can be reached at 344-2543 or cwarnock'heraldextra.com. Play Continued from front brilliantly retells the story of one of America's darkest eras, the Salem witch trials. This was a time when fear grew, trust was dissipated and deception plagued the land. The recreating of such an event was no easy undertaking. under-taking. "This is a very text-heavy text-heavy play, so you really need to look deep to find the meaning being portrayed," por-trayed," said Katlin Harken who plays the role of Abigail Williams. "The characters are so real; not one is all good or all evil. As an actress, it has been challenging to develop such a realistic character." charac-ter." "The Crucible" takes place in Massachusetts at the latter part of the seventeenth seven-teenth century in the small village of Salem. The play begins with several young girls who are caught doing mischief. In order to cover up their wrongdoings, the girls begin accusing their neighbors of witchcraft. With this, the peaceful The Crucible' Date: Feb. 3-5, Feb. 8 Time: 7 p.m. Place: PGHS, 700 E. 200 South Cost $6, adults; $5, students; $3, children; $30, family Puritan town is thrown in chaos as one lie sparks an engulfing flame. Neighbor rises against neighbor as the village becomes lost in deception. One by one, accusations arise until nearly the whole community is arrested for witchcraft. The characters soon find themselves in a Catch-22: having the choice to he and live or speak true and hang. Although the play is based on true events and actual people, there are several sev-eral unexpected turns and suspenseful scenes that will keep the audience on the edge of their seat from the start. Such a dramatic plot allows the audience to look for the meaning behind the story. "The meaning behind the story is so important," said cast member Rhett Wimmer, "You learn that one person's choice can affect a whole village. "The crucible vividly Damage Continued from front Elementary School to flood, according to a public works official earlier this month. Because there are no storm drains in the 600 West area of town and a water pipe was clogged, there was nowhere for the water to go but over the ditch and into the homes. The city has held two meetings to talk to residents resi-dents about the flooding problems, but the latest one, which was held just last week, gave very little information, Sandifur said. Apparently city officials called the meeting and then were instructed by legal council or the insurance adjusters to not comment on the flooding, Sandifur said. "They held a meeting about the flood and then say they can't discuss any flood issues, so the meeting was a waste of time," she said. "I think they are kind of running run-ning scared and afraid to talk right now." , When contacted by the Daily Herald, Public Works Director Lynn Walker said he could not comment on the issue. City Attorney Tina Petersen said she couldn't comment because she hasn't been involved in the issue and did not know specifics. She did say the issue is in the hands of the city's insurance company, Lowther and Associates, but that is normal in any flooding situation, she said. "Usually, municipalities have immunity when it comes to storm water issues by state law she said. "But the city's position has always been even if the city is not legally responsible, we try and do whatever we can to help the homeowners." homeown-ers." That is why the city's insurance company has gotten got-ten involved, she said. In the past, city officials have said the flooding was caused by unusual heavy weather, not negligence by the city. But Sandifur questions why the city would allow basements to be built in a place that didn't have a drainage system and therefore there-fore would could be prone to flooding, she said. Benjamin Bergin, whose basement also flooded causing caus-ing $3,000 worth of damage, said the problem was that a city-owned irrigation pipe was clogged with tree roots, causing the flooding in his area. Since then, he has done a lot of investigating into city code and said that pipe was not up to code. The city came out after the flooding and cleared the pipe, Bergin said, though the trees that clogged it are still standing, which concerns con-cerns him, "The "city should pay because that pipe was totally total-ly neglected I mean 60 feet of that pipe was clogged with roots," he said. Ron Nix, whose basement base-ment flooded, said the main problem is the development devel-opment which the city has allowed east of the homes has caused more water to run down the mountain and flood the nearby Discovery Dis-covery Park and, now, homes. Before the incident in January, his home had never flooded in the 12 Thinking about buying or selling your home? 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Ace Hafdwue 330 South Main Pleasant Grove 785-2221 Horn. Mm - Fn 7 I B - 7 p.m. Sit i a.a. - 6 p Ji. years he has lived there. Now he has two primary concerns that heavy weather will cause more flooding and that any resolution reso-lution that comes through the insurance company will not favor the residents, since the company is being paid by the city. "That is kind of like the fox being in charge of the hen house," Nix said. "I am just concerned we are not being fairly represented." 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UT A MOM - -MM. 4:507209:40 1210 230 4:50 720 940 450720 RACING STRIPES 500 730 9-40 1230 240 5007:30 940 5 007:30 depicts the events of th Salem witch trials, but more importantly it displays dis-plays a powerful mood that lets the audience see that honesty, especially with oneself, is imperative." impera-tive." ' "The Crucible" is open tq the general public. Pleasant Grove Review 59 W. Main American Fork, UT 84003 An edition of " The Daily Herald, Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Subscriptions & DelivcryServicc. 375-5 NO News & Advertising 756-7M,1) lax 75-5274. L-mail callreil'u hcraldcxtra.com USPS 018-580. (ISSN: 1521-6845)-Published Thursdays by Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84003. Periodicals postage paid at American Fork, Utah. Postmaster: Send address changes to 59 West Main, American Fork, UT 84003. 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