Heavy rain and wind arrives in Carson City, knocking down trees, power poles

UPDATE 1:45PM: Eagle Valley Creek in Carson City went above its flood stage just before 1 pm this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. A flood warning remains in effect until 6:15 p.m. for urban areas and small streams in Carson City and western Douglas County.

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A powerful winter storm continues to move through Carson City this morning bringing wind and rain and assorted localized power outages to the area.
Carson City remains under a Flood Warning as is much of western Nevada from Reno to Douglas County, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City and Storey County. Anywhere from 2 to 3 inches of rain is possible for the foothills and valley floors.

In Carson City a live power line fell in the area of Bonanza and Manzanita Terrace forcing the Carson City Fire Department to close traffic in a three-block radius. NV Energy crews were responding as of 10:30 a.m. At 10:50 there was a report of a transformer blowing in the area of North Walsh Street. Fire officials arriving at the scene report that the lines were not compromised and it may have been an arc.

At the corner of William and Division, Carson City resident Shawne Martinez reported a tree limb fell on a car, partially blocking the road. Street crews were underway moving the debris.
Carson City dispatch reports of some localized flooding but no major road closures at this time due to excessive water.
Sandbags are available at the Carson City Public Works Corporate Yard on Butti Way. If you have flooding issues, please contact Dispatch at (775) 887-2012.

CarsonWeather.com reports a wind speed clocked at 51 mph at 1:34 a.m. According to the website the rain should continue throughout the day, heavy at times and then begin tapering off tonight.

For Lake Tahoe heavy snow is expected as the temperatures drop in the region. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued.

Douglas County Sgt. Pat Brooks sent us the following news release for Douglas County storm plans:

The Douglas County Emergency Management has implemented a precautionary action plan for this weekend’s weather event. The Management team met this morning and discussed the event thus far. The major event has been a downed tree on Centerville Road, but has since been removed.

The concern for the extreme wind is for the potential of downed power poles, arcing power lines and flying debris. The second concern is for the potential localized flooding, flash flooding and landslides, especially in the recent burn areas, south of Gardnerville, near Ray May Way and Topaz Ranch Estates.

Preparations have been made for citizens of Douglas County to obtain sandbags at several locations throughout the county. Those locations are; Topaz Community Center, Ruhenstroth Firehouse, across from the Gardnerville Ranchos Firehouse, Johnson Lane Firehouse, Genoa Firehouse, Jack’s Valley Firehouse and for the residences at Lake Tahoe, Zephyr Cove Firehouse. Additional locations will be added as determined by the storm.

The residents of Douglas County, NV are encouraged to be prepared for any disaster for a minimum of three (3) days, for information on supplies visit www.ready.gov.

Douglas County GIS has added a viewer to the Douglas County Web site, www.douglascountynv.gov under the Maps/ GIS section, Online GIS application for the next 48 hours, which allows citizens to view areas of past flooding and local sandbag sites. This site would be updated should road closures or additional sandbag sites be needed. To access this site directly, http://douglasnvgis.info/douglas/floodpub

Residents are encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts on the Douglas County Web site under Notify Me.

The Douglas County Emergency Management team wants to remind citizens in extreme weather events to remain clear of low or downed power lines and trees that have been blown into power lines and, to stay clear of fast moving water and flooded areas where there is a potential for rock and landslides to occur.

The non-emergency number for Dispatch is (775) 782-5126 and for emergencies 911.