Lyon County urges residents to plan now for expected flooding from spring, summer runoff
YERINGTON, Nev. — As Lyon County continues to recover from the January and February flood events, agencies, leaders and department heads continue to plan for the upcoming spring and summer runoff and the subsequent flooding that is expected.
There is currently an estimated 640,000 acre feet or 208 billion gallons of water on the Walker Basin and 736,000 acre feet or 239 billion gallons of water on the Carson Basin. This concerns County and State officials with what the spring and summer will bring as far as flooding.
County Manager Jeff Page explains that a number of local governments and state agencies having been working to prepare for flooding throughout the region. To date these entities have:
— Conducted a five county table top exercise
— Conducted a number of planning meetings to ensure readiness
— Implemented a public awareness campaign
— Continued to clean drainages and performed debris removal to ensure water flow.
— Purchased sandbags and sand for public use as well as government use.
— Begun sandbagging utilities and key infrastructure
— Prioritized evacuation measures and identified special needs populations to ensure those people are properly protected
— Conducted reconnaissance of potential weak points along the rivers and implemented measures to enhance the stability of those weak points
Page says that the local governments of Lyon County are working cooperatively to prepare for flooding and to help reduce the impact of flooding. He says the people need to start planning for their families and begin playing the “what if” game.
He explains that the public should now begin by ensuring that they have two weeks’ worth of food, water, medications, pet food, etc. If they live in an area prone to flooding they should begin protective measures such as:
— Sandbagging the low points of their homes and outbuildings
— Securing anything that could float away
— Ensuring they have sufficient propane for two weeks (if they don’t have natural gas)
— Keeping vehicles fueled up
— Protecting well heads from flood water
— Strapping down their propane tanks to prevent them from floating away
— Purchasing flood insurance
— Developing a communications plan to ensure every person in the home knows what to do in an emergency.
— Develop a plan to evacuate their livestock to higher ground.
— Preparing a “Go bag” in the event they have to evacuate
Page explained that “we are planning for worst case”. He hopes that this spring and summer will be just an extremely high water year but “we never know what Mother Nature is going to bring”.
He is also concerned about regional issues such as US 95 between Schurz and Fallon being closed to flooding and the traffic that will be heading through Lyon County and to make matters worse what happens to that traffic if Miller Lane has to be closed due to flooding. Page explained that they are in discussions with State agencies now planning for those types of events.
Page has provided the following web links to assist the public with preparing:
www.Ready.gov
https://disastersafety.org/flood/
Propane Tank Safety
https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/videos/80366
https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/3729?id=1750
https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1627-20490-6014/how2005_fuel_tanks_4_11.pdf
https://www.fema.gov/pdf/fima/pbuffd_chapter_3-2.pdf
How to properly sandbag
https://dpw.lacounty.gov/wmd/homeowners/sandbags.cfm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fa8ApB_TFc
Page is planning a community town hall with state and local agencies to brief the interested public and answer any questions they may have. He advised it will likely be the first week of May. He is working out a date, time, and location.
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