SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A rain-swollen creek and overwhelmed storm drains are being blamed for flooding that damaged thousands of books in the basement of a Salt Lake City-area library.

Justin Thorup, an official at the Sprague Branch library in Sugar House, tells the Deseret News (http://bit.ly/2u4Z54t ) that by the time workers responded to a flood alarm early Wednesday the basement was inundated with more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water, mud and debris.

Thorup says stacks of waterlogged books were destroyed and will probably have to be discarded.

Library spokesman Andrew Shaw says the water came from the overflowing Parleys Creek during heavy rains. He says it rushed past a plugged storm drain and down a library basement stairwell.

The basement has the library’s nonfiction, children’s and teen collections of books, comics and audiobooks.