Harrisville is a city in Weber County, Utah. Founded in 1850 when Urban Stewart built the first house in the area, Harrisville is now a thriving city with a population of almost 6,000 inhabiting its 2.7 square mile total land area. The city has an elevation of 4,291 feet. It is largely a bedroom community for people who work at nearby Hill Air Force Base and for a host of technologically-oriented manufacturers in the area. The Wasatch Mountains provide an excellent view and almost limitless mountain recreation, making Harrisville and its neighboring cities a veritable outdoor playground.
As with the other cities in Weber County, Harrisville is vulnerable to natural disasters. The elevation of the city is a just a little higher than the historically highest levels of the Great Salt Lake, exposing Harrisville to the danger of flooding whenever there is an abundance of rainwater or snowmelt flowing from the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains. When the flow of water coincides with the high levels of the lake, the water channels become overwhelmed, and the cities between the mountains and the lake are prone to flooding.
Earthquake is another possibility given the proximity of the Wasatch Fault. Because Harrisville and its neighboring cities are close to a great body of water – the Great Salt Lake – the area is prone to liquefaction in the event of an earthquake. Liquefaction happens when the loose sand and silt become saturated with water and behave like a liquid when the ground is rattled by an earthquake. The saturated soil will be unable to support the structures on its surface.
Both floods and an earthquake could trigger landslides that will affect communities in the low-lying areas. The mountain slopes accumulate a lot of sediment over time, and a heavy flood or strong earthquake could trigger the release of the debris.
It’s hard to resist Harrisville’s natural beauty, but its residents must be prepared in case catastrophe strikes. The Disaster Company, a full-service disaster cleanup and restoration organization in Utah, is ready to lend a helping and compassionate hand. The company’s trained and well-equipped professionals can address a broad range of needs statewide in the wake of a catastrophe, including disaster cleanup in Harrisville.
