Utah Canal Break Sends Adjusters to Flooded Houses

Insurance adjusters are assessing damaged to at least eight houses flooded by a canal break in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray, Utah.

The North Jordan Irrigation Co. has placed a temporary dam on the canal and hired an engineer to investigate why it broke it broke Saturday.

Thousands of people are without water for farming or livestock, and homeowners are shoveling mud out of their basements.

The canal company is accepting responsibility, but says the city never should have allowed houses to be built below a 118-year-old canal near the Jordan River. Canal officials believe trees and bushes planted by homeowners over the years weakened the banks of the canal.

Homeowners say the canal had been leaking recently and was a ticking time bomb.