Flash-flood debris closes highway

Flash flooding closed a highway in the region Tuesday night. Wyoming Highway 89 was closed just before 6 p.m. after mud, water, and debris came rushing down the mountainside.

Eyewitness News anchor Todd Kunz talked to a witness Wednesday night who said the heavy rain ran off the old Layland Canyon phosphate mine area. All of the washout ran toward the highway, taking out three stretches of fence and several posts. It filled the Francis Ditch and washed across the highway.

Road crews had to use snowplows and road graders to re-open it. The highway is fine as of Wednesday night.