ST. GEORGE - Waters that had threatened homes and damaged property throughout western Washington County had eased out by Thursday, and sunlight finally emerged after a week of rain.
Muddied streets and sidewalks marred towns like Enterprise, Brookside and Gunlock. Some roadways had been wiped out completely, bridges were damaged and basements flooded, but no deaths or injuries were reported and residents were using the break in the weather to breathe a sigh of relief and consider what had happened.
"It was unreal," Brookside resident Jacob Werner said Thursday, standing near a wall of sandbags that, for a while, were all that separated his basement and the swollen Santa Clara River. "I couldn't believe how close it was. It was pretty scary getting home."
In Enterprise, Jon Vincent Paxman was resting up before a daunting cleanup job. A foot of water had flooded the basement, the front yard was topped by thick mud and a full account of the damage had yet to be determined.
Paxman said he was glad to be past the harrowing experience of waking up to rushing water entering the house Tuesday morning.
"We were sleeping when it came," he said. "I jumped out of bed at about 6 a.m. to go 'splash.'"
Authorities were just starting to take stock of the damage done Thursday, so they weren't sure how much there was to report.
Enterprise Mayor Lee Bracken said many of the city staff and numerous volunteers who had stacked sandbags, operated heavy equipment, supplied food and made other contributions were sleeping on Thursday, resting up after several days with little sleep.
"When we finally saw the sunshine this morning, I just told everybody to go home and get ready for Christmas," he said.
Bracken and other officials credited an organized and energetic volunteer force with preventing more damage.
In Enterprise, countless volunteers stacked about 15,000 sandbags all over the area, he said, and the support system of equipment, food and other supplies kept the effort going for days.
Steve Haluska, chair of the Northwestern Special Service District, said about 300 volunteers tempered the damage in Brookside, contributing 2,100 man-hours.
The river rose more than 4 feet in places, flooding 10 houses and a mobile home, but no one was hurt, which was the most important thing, he said.
"We didn't' have one person injured or hurt, and that's what really matters," he said.
Officials are wary of another storm expected to pass through the area Sunday, with riverbanks and reservoirs largely full from the week's deluge, but it appeared the worst had passed, said Peter Kuhlmann, Washington County's emergency management director.
Officials are also telling residents to be prepared for this spring, when snow runoff will be coming down into waterways already filled by the week's historic storm.
"We got about a year's worth of rain in one week," said Enterprise resident Dylan Sparks. "That'll put a lot of pressure on things."
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