KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Parts of Fernley Still Under 8 Feet of Floodwater
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Updated: 2:32pm
Eight dogs have been rescued and are at the Lyon County Shelter. Call 775-577-5005. A new load is being picked up at the time of this writing.
From the Associated Press:
Governor Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency in the county yesterday. At a briefing in Fernley this morning, state and local officials said the problem was too big to provide an accurate estimate of the damage so they plan to wait until officials for the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on scene to assist in that assessment.
Lyon Co. Fire Chief Scott Huntley says some residents have started returning to homes in less hard-hit areas but that it may be days before many return.
The break came after a day of unusually heavy rainfall for a high desert town that averages only 5 inches of precipitation annually. The rain is considered a likely contributor to the levee's failure but officials say an investigation of the cause is continuing, including the possibility burrowing rodents played a role, as they did in a smaller collapse at a different spot in the levee that flooded about 60 Fernley homes in December 1996.
Updated: 9:55am
From the Associated Press:
Hundreds of homes in northern Nevada remain under up to eight feet of water today. Federal emergency workers are on their way to assess the flood damage caused when an irrigation canal's earthen levee ruptured in Fernely, a rural town of 20,000 people about 30 miles east of Reno.
Cold weather is turning some of the water to ice, complicating plans to allow natural flows to move most of the water on to a federal wetland outside town. Fernley officials say they are considering using pumps to aid in that effort.
The levee break that occurred just after 4am Saturday was repaired late in the day but as much as a square mile of the town is still under at least two feet of water, eight feet deep in some areas.
Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler estimated yesterday that some 300 to 400 homes had been damaged. Lyon County Fire Chief Scott Huntley estimated 1,500 people had been displaced, dozens of them rescued by helicopters and boats when a 2-foot high wall of water roared out of the levee yesterday morning.
Amazingly, still no injuries have been reported.
Governor Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency in the county yesterday. At a briefing in Fernley this morning, state and local officials said the problem was too big to provide an accurate estimate of the damage so they plan to wait until officials for the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on scene to assist in that assessment.
Mayor Cutler says he is optimistic some residents would begin returning to their homes tomorrow but others said it could be several days.
The break came after a day of unusually heavy rainfall for a high desert town that averages only 5 inches of precipitation annually. The rain is considered a likely contributor to the levee's failure but officials say an investigation of the cause is continuing, including the possibility burrowing rodents played a role, as they did in a smaller collapse at a different spot in the levee that flooded about 60 Fernley homes in December 1996.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Updated: 9:23am
Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler has said people can return home, but asks that people be cautious of black ice.
35-40 homes remain without power.
Water remains the highest in the Shadow Mountain/Rolling Meadows area; officials say water is up to eight feet in some spots.
A Red Cross national team will arrive in Fernley sometime Sunday to help.
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More than 300 families are being helped by the Red Cross one day after a suspected gopher hole caused a levee to break in Fernley.
During a live press conference, Lyon County's Fire Chief said many people were actually making the best out of a bad situation. Pumps will be put in to pump water out.
FEMA and assessment teams are expected to come in Sunday to check out the ongoing situation.
Reporter Jen Jackson says water is receding, but now it is frozen solid, some even now have snow on top from Saturday night's storm.
An evacuation center is still set up at Fernley High School. You can call 575-3400 for more information.
Nevada Highway Patrol is not sure when evacuees can return home yet; it's limiting access to flooded areas. Evacuees need identification to enter flooded areas.
To access the emergency money mentioned in the live press conference, victims have to go to Fernley High School and talk with someone there to begin the process.
The Red Cross has set up an account to help victims. You can donate online or call 856-1000. Funds will be used to provide housing, food, clothing among other items.
Victims can also call the Nevada Division of Insurance at 687-4270.
