Home Care In Hurricane, UT

SALT LAKE CITY — It's unclear how structured Tropical Storm Rachel will be by the time the Pacific storm arrives in Utah, but federal meteorologists say it will still have enough power to create impacts throughout the state.

That's why the National Weather Service issued a series of flood watches and wind advisories across the state, noting that while 1-2 inches of rainfall is likely in most of Utah's valleys, 2-4 inches of rainfall is possible between late Saturday and Monday, with potentially even higher numbers in some mountain locations.

"Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop," the advisories state.

Warnings are possible depending on where flooding develops.

Flash flooding is possible at Utah's state and national parks, monuments and other popular outdoor recreation areas across southern and central Utah on Saturday, but the risk is elevated from probable to expected on Sunday, especially in southwest Utah, per the weather service.

That risk could linger into early next week, although storms will become more scattered toward late Monday through potentially Wednesday.

The agency also issued a series of wind advisories, noting that gusts of 55-60 mph are possible at times before the former hurricane arrives. Those could be elevated to high wind warnings in central and southern Utah, with gusts potentially exceeding 60-70 mph.

A "sting jet" is also possible as the system passes through the southwest Utah's mountains and valleys on Sunday.

Rainfall deviations

There's still some uncertainty as to how much Rachel will provide, which depends on the track the storm takes as it moves through the West and many other variables, said KSL Weather meteorologist Devan Masciulli.

Weather models have gone back and forth over the last few days, showing the center of the storm moving through southwestern Utah or southeastern Nevada. That could impact who receives the rain circulating around it.

"It's a factor of where that circulation sets and where it passes through Utah," she said.

As long as the storm remains close to the Utah-Nevada border before jetting through Utah, it will likely produce strong precipitation.

However, how Rachel interacts with another low-pressure system moving across the Pacific Northwest toward California and eventually Utah will affect numbers since it will pass underneath the core of Rachel as it moves east.

That's on top of the normal elements that can affect Utah's precipitation totals, like mountains faring better than valleys and potential rain shadowing, Masciulli added.

KSL Weather models, updated Friday afternoon, suggest many communities across the state could receive 1 to 2 inches or more of precipitation by the end of Wednesday, taking into account the second storm.

Final totals could be higher or lower, depending on all these types of variables.

Totals could even exceed 4 inches in parts of the mountains. The weather service's alert notes there's even a potential for "highly localized amounts" of 6-8 inches of precipitation across some mountain slopes in southwest Utah, as well as the Book Cliffs and the Bear River Range.

Masciulli said south-facing slopes in those areas are the most likely to receive that type of precipitation, based on the storm rotation. West-facing slopes in northern Utah could also fare well.

"It's complex," she added, with a nervous chuckle.

Lesser totals are expected toward southeast Utah, based on the likely storm path.

Wind concerns

Federal meteorologists say there could be a risk of downed trees, especially in backcountry camping areas in central and southern Utah. That has happened in the past with previous hurricane remnant storms like this, the weather service noted.

A notable high wind threat looks to develop across the valleys and high terrain of southwest Utah as the remnants of Rachel move through. This would bring widespread lower elevation winds in excess of 40mph with high terrain and ridgelines gusts potentially exceed 70 mph. #mph https://t.co/v1tTMFwAc9

— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) October 9, 2026

The biggest wind risk comes from the threat of potential sting jets forming in southwest Utah. A sting jet is a "small area of very intense winds," which gets its name because it looks like a scorpion tail, as winds blow downward, according to the Met Office.

It's similar to downslope winds, Masciulli explained. Projected wind gusts of 70 mph or more are possible Sunday, which could last for a few hours.

"These are severe-level winds," she said. "When you add saturated soils and very strong wind like that, that's going to knock down trees and that can cause a bunch of issues, like injuries, power outages and damage."

Strong and severe thunderstorms are also possible on Sunday, with an "isolated tornado threat" across southern Utah, the weather service noted in a video report.

The risk for strong gusts is expected to eventually subside by Monday.

Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found at the KSL Weather Center or on the KSL Weather app.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Hurricane City said they were prepared for flash flooding, but there was too much water coming from out of town. (Photo: Samantha Hoffman, KUTV Reporter)

HURRICANE, Utah (KUTV) — Hurricane City said they were prepared for flash flooding, but there was too much water coming from out of town.

Crews are on scene at the Pecan Townhomes this week to wash roads, remove damaged walls and furniture, and clear storm drains.

Hurricane City Manager Caden DeMille said it was an accumulation of water and debris from the east, outside city limits, that came pouring through the Gould Wash into town.

MORE: Video shows massive flooding, submerged vehicles in Hurricane neighborhood

“We've seen large trees and stumps that apparently have come from the east side of the city, up above,” DeMille said.

DeMille said there were no failures within Hurricane, and the wash was prepped for impact.

“We spend time in the wash during the winter months, cleaning it out, sending equipment up and down the wash, clearing out some of the debris, chopping it up so that it's smaller so that it's able to pass through the culverts and through the bridges that we have running throughout town,” DeMille said.

But knowing that water still reached this neighborhood, the city and local partner NRCS are working toward further prevention. They’ve applied to a federal program that would add a dry detention basin — the Gould Wash Flood Protection Project at the Warner Draw Watershed — on the east bench of Hurricane City, helping limit the water that flows from Colorado City and Apple Valley through Gould Wash.

“That dam would be put in place to help detain that water to the point where it would discharge it at a reasonable rate in something

that would be able to be sustainable by our wash,” DeMille said. "Part of the project would also be shoring up and protecting the wash here through Hurricane proper."

A USDA statement added that "the Project would reduce flooding in Hurricane City, protecting people, structures, transportation infrastructure, public utilities, and property from floodwater damage."

Hurricane City and NRCS are waiting on approval of their design in the next few weeks. Then, they’ll look toward securing $67 million of funding.

Brenna Stucki, a 5-month Pecan Townhome homeowner, hopes the city is ready to push the project forward.

“I feel like there's always got to be a sense of urgency. The weather is not going to wait. I'm trying to take the mindset of giving people grace because this isn't anyone's fault. Things happen, and it's how we handle it after,” Stucki said.

DeMille said the city has already added a detention basin with NRCS that alleviates runoff from Frog Hollow Wash, which could act as an example to the new project.

"That also was affected by this storm, and we saw a discharge of water taking place there, but it was at a reasonable amount, something that we had planned on, and that dam functioned as we expected," DeMille said. "The city continues to make efforts in ensuring that the waters are going where they're supposed to be, especially with our drainage facilities that we currently have in place."

To donate to victims of the flash flooding, a GoFundMe is available here.

HURRICANE, Utah — After severe flooding in Hurricane on Friday brought mud onto roads and into people’s homes, neighbors are helping each other clean up the mess.

Since heavy rains caused the Gould Wash to overflow, 10-year-old Elian Mejia has been helping his parents clean up their home.

“We had to throw away almost everything that was downstairs," he said. “We had to be helping even at night."

Day and night, folks have been forced to clean up their homes.

“This is the contents of our garage, so we're going through it step by step," Kenson Pribyl said. "We had to shovel out and clean out the garage, and now we're cleaning up the stuff and putting it back, for the time being.”

But despite the flooding, Pribyl says he feels lucky.

“Hey, it’s just stuff,” he said.

Especially since his six kids play at the Gould Wash behind his home all the time.

“My whole family’s safe. This doesn’t matter — this can all be replaced," Pribyl said. "My children can’t."

As he continues to clean and count his blessings, his neighbors are giving a helping hand from those who weren’t even affected by the flooding.

“It’s just the right thing to do. I think you should help out your neighbors," Scott Glenn said. "I think it’s just being a good citizen, trying to help where you can... I think if I was in this situation, I would sure appreciate somebody helping me out too.”

And the help doesn’t stop there. Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Hurricane is giving free pizza to people affected by the flooding and those helping them.

“We can’t survive without the community. We won’t be here, we wouldn’t be in business without them, so we need to step up for them," owner Nic Lauritzen said.

Some volunteers living in Hurricane are going to continue to help this neighborhood in the coming days, bringing trailers to help throw away ruined items.

Homeowners impacted by severe flash flooding say they did not know they were in a floodplain, so Hurricane City is sharing how people can better address risk associated with their property. (KUTV)

HURRICANE, Utah (KUTV) — Homeowners impacted by severe flash flooding say they did not know they were in a floodplain, so Hurricane City is sharing how people can better address risk associated with their property.

Brenna Stucki, a Pecan Townhome resident, explains how she didn't know anywhere around her was floodplain.

"We get these [flash flood] warnings all the time and nothing ever happens, so when I came out and I looked out my front window and the water was already almost to my front window and I just panicked, as this was real."

Stucki now has water damage that's soaked into her insulation and has ruined furniture and her car.

"You think fire, you think other emergencies, but not necessarily flash flood, because we just don't get much rain here," she said.

MORE | Hurricane Flooding

Hurricane City Manager Caden DeMille said there’s a floodway along the Pecan Townhomes neighborhood that receives the majority of the water in flash floods. That makes the surrounding area a floodplain, as homes may be impacted.

"Homeowners always need to be aware of where they're building their homes or where they're locating, whether it's under a dam or next to a wash. Before they ever purchase a home or build a home, they really need to be coming in and visiting with city staff," said DeMille. "There's floodplain information that's readily available online that they're able to access and look at that, and there are floodplain areas where you are allowed to build on, but obviously there's risks that are associated with doing so."

As to why floodplains are built on, DeMille says that follows property rights, though there are some limitations on areas that are too high risk. The city works to make floodplains less vulnerable when there is residential development.

"As building takes place in areas, then the city puts effort into ensuring that the proper drainage facilities are there to receive the water and to take it away from the housing," said DeMille. "Unfortunately, during storms such as this, they can and have in the past exceeded the capabilities of what drainage facilities are in place for and what they're intended to handle."

DeMille said Hurricane City flood maps were recently updated and are important to check as conditions can change after building.

"The floodplain is a factor with Gould Wash here where it has obviously the ability to breach the walls of the wash, and so we continue to refine those maps. New maps have come out recently in assessing what a 100-year storm would do with this wash and the effect it would have on the community," he said. "I think it will be something that the public will more easily recognize when they're looking at building along waterways."

FEMA has the Flood Map Service Center where homeowners can plug in their address to assess risk.

"Whether you are in a high-risk zone or not, you may need flood insurance because most homeowners' insurance doesn't cover flood damage. If you live in an area with low or moderate flood risk, you are 5 times more likely to experience flood than a fire in your home over the next 30 years," FEMA says on their database.

Floodhazards.utah.gov also has detailed information on using these maps, how to protect your property and self from floods, and how to get insured. Beyond flood insurance, they recommend homeowners in flood-prone areas prepare a list of belongings, store valuables, replace carpeting with tiles, install flood vents, elevate utilities, and use flood-resistant insulation and drywall.

While flood insurance can offset risk, many residents from Pecan Townhomes say they weren’t covered.

"I think the general consensus around here is that no one had flood insurance because no one thought about floods," said Stucki.

S&S Steel Fabrication is matching donations dollar for dollar up to $30,000 to support flood recovery in Hurricane. Donations are through Venmo @Hurricanefloodvictims2026 or at the State Bank of Southern Utah Account Name: Hurricane Flood Victims.