WELLSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) –Wellsville has been hit especially hard this winter. Foot after foot of snow is piling up. A rehab center just outside of town had its roof collapse under tons of snow, and the fire chief has a warning for homeowners.  

The sound of dripping water. It’s a sound no one wants to hear in their home or business.   

“My heart just sank,” Shane Branz told ABC4. He is a part owner of Rising Ridge Recovery. It’s a rehab center that opened its doors about a year and a half ago at the old Sherwood Hills Resort in Sardine Canyon.   

“It’s been challenging to fight this fight, but we know we’re doing a good thing and we want to keep going,” Branz stated.  

The pandemic caused multiple setbacks for the center but this week, the weather may have caused the biggest setback so far after high winds and heavy snow led to a collapsed roof. 

“I got a call from our maintenance guy, and I said: ‘Do we have a broken pipe?’ And he said, ‘No, the roof just collapsed on the pool area,’” Branz recounted.  

“I feel like it set in at the moment a little bit but definitely going home and being like, ‘That was my work day today. Holy cow,” Case Manager Supervisor Gavin Mikesell told ABC4. He said he, and his coworkers, are anxiously awaiting the return of their clients.  

Currently, there are 22 people getting treatment at the center. For the time being, they are staying at a hotel nearby. Branz said the rest of the building has been found safe. “Everybody seems to be in good spirits and is positive,” Branz said.  

 They are working on a few repairs and hope to get the clients back to the center on Sunday.  

Thankfully, no one was injured. “It’s a steel beam structure that gave way,” Branz explained. “It probably would have been the last building on the property that we would have been concerned about.” He said the pool was drained and the area was not in use. However, he said the center had planned on opening the area up for clients in the near future.   

The roof collapsing is a setback of its own, but Branz said to make matters worse, insurance is not going to cover the damage. He added: “You couple that with being a startup. These are all resources now that we have to divert instead of focusing on helping clients find sobriety and to step into recovery.”   

Just a few miles from Rising Ridge is Wellsville. The entire area has been hit hard this winter. Snow is piled high along roads, in front of houses, and on top of roofs.  

“You should be concerned about what’s on your roof,” Wellsville Fire Chief Gerald Leishman stated.  

He said homeowners should regularly remove snow from their roofs to prevent collapse. However, if they haven’t been keeping up throughout the winter, they need to be especially careful how they take care of it now. “Your extra body weight on that roof could cause it to collapse and you should not be getting on there if you’re not able to safely,” Leishman added.   

 As for the center, Branz said “All we can do is keep moving along.”  

 To learn more about Rising Ridge Recovery, the services they offer, or how you can help, click here.