BY KELLY KENNEDY
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
    RIVERDALE -- Thousands of gallons of water rushed from the Weber/Davis Canal on Sunday afternoon, churning dirt into swirling mud and causing millions of dollars of damage -- and a state of emergency declared by Riverdale, Weber County and the state.
    At least 300 people were evacuated from their mud-filled homes, said Riverdale Public Safety Chief Wayne Hoaldridge. People in the nearby farming communities of Roy and Hooper will have to find a replacement source of irrigation water for 30,000 acres of crops.
    There were no reported injuries.
    Hoaldridge said he was informed about the state of emergency Sunday evening, and said at least 100 people would work late into the night to clean up as much as they could. By today he expects several hundred more volunteers.
    The emergency situation means Riverdale and its 7,000 residents should qualify for county and state emergency funds. Gov. Mike Leavitt would have to declare the location a disaster area to trigger eligibility for federal dollars.
    But the immediate problems involved hard work more than money. "We're trying to find a place to put the mud," Riverdale City Council member Bruce Burrows said. "There's acres and acres of it. It was mostly housing areas affected in Riverdale, but there won't be irrigation water for quite some time for the people below us."
    "It's the most major disaster we've had in our community by far," said Riverdale Mayor Dan Jones.
    Hoaldridge said officials have not tried to put a dollar value on the damage, but he knows it will be high. Most of the 70 homes hit were built within the past four years and are worth between $200,000 and $400,000.
    "Some people will be able to get back to their homes, but most not tonight," he said. "It's terrible. We can't let people in because they can't get to their homes safely."
    The canal, which is 115 years old, burst at about noon at 1345 W. 5300 South, and crews couldn't get it shut off until 4:30 p.m., said Riverdale police Sgt. Skip Smith. He said the water in the canal moves at 250 cubic feet per second. Even after it had been shut off, water continued to pour out.
    Officials do not yet know why the canal burst.
    Several homes were in the path of acres of mud the water dragged down the hill. One home had watery sludge entering through the garage, pushing a couch against a back doorway leading out of the basement.
    A white picket fence was buried to its top post in mud, and search-and-rescue crews had mud marks to the tops of their thighs.
    Ann Anthem and her family went jetskiing at Echo Reservoir and did not realize a small river was pouring through their home until they saw the police heading off traffic at their subdivision.
    "I never thought the canal would go," Anthem said. "I'm not even sure our insurance will cover this."
    She said they built their home just a year ago. She watched her husband wade through the mud toward their house and her son began to cry when he realized he would not be able to go home.
    Riverdale City Council member Jean Bonham shook her head in amazement as she shot pictures of the flood.
    "It's not even our canal, so we couldn't do anything about it," she said. "But it has definitely been talked about before in our meetings. There was some concern that it wasn't being maintained."
    Bonham spent the afternoon filling sandbags to protect her own neighborhood.
    Jack and Barbara Berkenpas drove to the area to feed their son's cats because he is on vacation. When they arrived, they realized they faced a rescue mission.
    "We knew the one lives downstairs and that we had to get him out," Barbara Berkenpas said, holding a brown-striped meowing male. "This is just awful."
    Larry Brown, spokesman for the Red Cross Northern Utah Chapter, said many of the displaced homeowners went to Riverdale LDS Ward 6 for water, a place to stay and food.
    Public Safety Chief Hoalbridge said workers used dump trucks and front-end loaders to move the hundreds of tons of mud. They set up lights so they could work into the night.
    "I don't know much about this canal except the city doesn't have anything to do with that canal," he said. "It's an irrigation canal."
    But the city took the responsibility of calling in help: Riverdale City police, Weber County Emergency Services, Weber County Sheriff's Office, Washington Terrace police, South Ogden police, Ogden City police, Roy police and the Utah Highway Patrol.
    Several volunteer groups showed up with trailers full of buckets, sandbags and shovels.
    At 8 a.m. today, there will be a meeting at the Riverdale Civic Center to discuss what needs to be done next and to assemble volunteers.
    Public safety officials say it is safe to drink culinary water. However, all Riverdale residents have been asked to shut off their outside water until further notice.
    That means no watering lawns or washing cars until the emergency water-use situation has ended.
    People who wish to help should call the Riverdale Police Department at (801) 479-5780.