Access still restricted for some Mt. Charleston residents
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - In the Old Town neighborhood on Mt. Charleston, the damage from recent extreme storms and flooding is so extensive that some residents still can’t get out of their own driveways.
About 400 people live in the area, and rock blockage in front of one driveway stood higher than the FOX5 reporter on the scene. Exposed pipelines were visible up and down the road.
Officials say that repairs will take time due to the extent of the damage. Some structures in the Old Town area, including the fire station, are among those in need of repairs. NDOT told FOX5 that they have hired a contractor that is expected to come out to the area next week.
NV Energy said it has identified 200 hazardous trees that they are expecting to remove from the mountain by the end of next week. Because so much work remains to be done, all roads leading up to the mountain and its recreational parks remain closed for the time being.
One resident who has lived in the area for a year explained that it has been difficult living without running water, but she is thankful that work is already being done.
“It has felt like a near miss. I feel like I learned a lot about emergency preparedness through this situation,” she said. “Really, there was no loss of life and we didn’t sustain any permanent damage to our house. It has been shocking and kind of unsettling to see the damage to the road and the roads completely washed away.”
NDOT’s Mario Gomez addressed the difficulty of the repairs ahead.
“We have had a tremendous amount of damage out here,” he stated. “50, 60, 80 foot cuts out there. Sections of lanes missing and sections of shoulders missing. So a contractor out there does not drop material 50 feet down and compact it. They must get in there and work from the bottom up. If they don’t do those things then the road is going to eventually fall apart or settle and create secondary issues.”
NDOT said that it plans to look at upgrading some of the roads during the process, with the intent to prevent significant damage in the future. The department estimated that all the road damage could cost between $5-$8 million dollars to fix.
While repairs are a work in progress, officials said that they hope to have roads and parks back open by October 1, but said that assessments are ongoing and the process could take longer.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help repair the Mt. Charleston Volunteer Fire Department building, which was severely compromised in the storm. Information about that is available here.
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