LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Heavy rain and hail moved through parts of the Las Vegas Valley Monday, flooding roads and sending water rushing through drainage channels.
But in some areas known for flooding, people who spend time there say the water did not get as high as it has in the past.
At Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, Alondra Arreola said flooding is a familiar sight.
“We were here one time two months ago, and it had flooded right here, and it was kind of bad,” Arreola said.
Johnny Rodriguez, who works nearby, said the area has seen much worse.
“After they finished the construction here two years ago, it got better, but there were times where it covered this sidewalk across and was probably about two to three feet deep,” Rodriguez said.
The storm created dangerous conditions elsewhere in the valley. Near Twain Avenue and Eastern Avenue, firefighters used ropes to rescue a man from a drainage channel.
Despite the flooding, the Clark County Regional Flood Control District said the valley’s flood control system performed as intended.
Brian Rowley, deputy general manager for the district, said three detention basins collected more than 15 feet of water during the storm.
“That water got collected in the detention basins,” Rowley said. “It captures that and debris and slowly releases it overnight. So it keeps people and their property safe downstream.”
Rowley said seeing water on a street does not necessarily mean the flood control system has failed. In some locations, streets are designed to carry water toward storm drains and away from homes.
Over the past 40 years, the district has built more than 700 miles of channels and storm drains and 100 detention basins. Rowley said that work has helped eliminate some longtime problem areas.
Others remain.
Rowley specifically pointed to Sahara Avenue as a corridor where significant amounts of water still flow during storms. He said additional flood control facilities are planned for the area.
The district’s work across the valley is also far from finished. Rowley said its current plan includes roughly another 30 years of flood control projects.
For Rodriguez, the impact of the work is already noticeable.
“Usually when we get a decent amount of rain it kind of goes across the road up to the median in the middle,” he said. “But this morning it was in the bus lane, so that’s better than it usually is.”
