John Potter
Channel 2 News
Portrait of a frustrated homeowner: Terri Thomas' house is a flood target. She told us, "My home had two and a half feet of water in it in 1997." Is she worried about it happening again? "Indeed. It almost happened again New Year's Day 2006."
Based on what little's been done since her house was damaged over 15 years ago, chances are she will be underwater again. She told us, "I'm worried. I'm also out of pocket almost twice as much on my homeowners insurance for FEMA flood coverage."
Terri's neighborhood is right off Rock Boulevard and Pembroke Drive…one of the many areas notorious for flooding when the snow pack goes into meltdown and the heavy rains come down.
Down the street from Terri is where Mel Belding lives. He got tired of waiting for officials…he raised his house 4 feet himself, at the cost of $58,000. He gave us a tour, showing the 5 layers of brick he had installed on the top of the existing firewall. It was his only option. So much flood prevention work needs to be done, but Mel hasn't seen any of it since he was flooded. "No, nothing has been done about flood control. They meet. Government works too slow."
Even though we're experiencing one of our driest winters in years, we've been in a cycle lately of devastating floods: one in 1997, another in 2005. Worries about the next flood brought officials together today (Wednesday) to jump-start the long-delayed Truckee River Flood Project.
About what Mel said, about government working too slow? Truckee River Flood Management Authority Board member Dave Aiazzi said "I agree with them. I haven't seen anything done that you can see in Reno or Sparks in my mind. We've done a lot of planning."
And a lot of fundraising. Both Aiazzi and fellow board member Jessica Sferrazza just came back from Washington, D.C. for flood control money. Senator Harry Reid helped, but what they could get was not encouraging: just enough for a scaled-down flood project…taking it from a 117-year plan to a 50-year plan. The board decided today to take it. Board Member Sferrazza told us, "It's a substantial cutback. But we also have to be realistic about the realities of what's going on with D.C. There's a lot of local governments that are competing for these funds, like New Orleans. We've been working on this a long time. It's time to make it happen." Added Aiazzi: "I think it's better than nothing."
But homeowner Terri is not happy. She thinks they missed the boat. "We should have applied for stimulus money. We should have been under construction by now. That should have happened."
A lack of funding, an incomplete plan of action, delays and disagreements…all standing in the way of preventing 1997, and 2006, from happening yet again. Even the officials know it. As Dave Aiazzi told us, "We're not going to have anything in place come next flood time. If the flood happens tomorrow or the next 4 years, it's going to be very difficult."
The Truckee River Flood Management Authority is getting together again on March 9th.
Two generals from the Army Corps of engineers will be briefed on the flood area on March 16th.
