Flood control saved lives, property during storm

LAS VEGAS - Despite the destroyed homes and messy cleanup, experts say the massive storm that turned Las Vegas into an overflowing lake could have been much worse if not for a flood control program that is still being built.

Tell that to Tom Lowe, who spent Friday shoveling mud out of his yard.

"One shovel full at a time, just one shovel full at a time," he said, launching another scoop of mud out of his driveway and into the street.

Flood experts said the $1.4 billion flood control program, which won't be finished for another quarter century, still saved lives and property. The project is only 20 percent complete.

If Thursday's storm had happened a few years ago, "it would have been a disaster to end all disasters," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. "What we've done with flood control is remarkable."

Two deaths were blamed on the flash floods that sucked up cars, destroyed three mobile homes and invaded a casino, businesses and homes throughout the Las Vegas area.

Police and firefighters rescued 163 people from raging waters. Eight of those rescues had to be done by helicopter.

"I can't begin to estimate what would have happened if these flood controls were not in place," Gale Fraser, general manager of the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, said. "I know it would have been a lot worse. Prior to our being here, there was no place for that water to go."

The system consists of 30 massive flood detention basins ranging in size from 10 acres to 80 acres. Fraser said one of the basins collected some 400 acre feet of water - equal to water that would cover a football field 400 feet high.

"That water would have run rampant through the valley," Fraser said.

The basins collect water pouring off mountains surrounding the city, then release it slowly along channels and washes that empty into Lake Mead.

The flood control project was initiated after devastating floods in 1975 and 1984. About $400 million has been spent so far, while another $1 billion worth of work is planned.

City officials estimated public property damage at $620,000. Clark County and state officials had no damage estimates late Friday. City and county officials planned to ask the state for a disaster declaration.

Gov. Kenny Guinn, who toured the area Thursday and met with local officials, said the state had less than $4.8 million in its disaster aid fund.

Summer floods are not unusual here, where normal annual rainfall is 4 inches and a downpour of an inch or more can swamp streets and fill usually dry washes that criss-cross the valley.

archive