Related Coverage
Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency on Sunday because of the imminent threat from Hurricane Hilary, which continues to bring severe weather across Nevada.
The declaration enables impacted counties and tribes to receive federal assistance to protect residents and mitigate infrastructure damage, Lombardo’s office said.
The extreme weather has brought flash flooding, rockslides and mudslides. Damage is expected to public and private property, they said.
“Hurricane Hilary represents a serious threat to our communities, and once again, I implore all Nevadans to prepare for flooding, remain vigilant, and to follow all guidance from state and local emergency officials,” Lombardo said in a news release.
Earlier on Sunday, Clark County called its own state of emergency to manage the ongoing rainfall from the storm.
About a 1/2 of an inch of rain had fallen in Las Vegas by 7 p.m. Sunday, and up to another inch is expected over the next 24 hours. A flood watch was upgraded to a flood warning by the National Weather Service at about 6 p.m.
Spring Mountain, which was already seeing small impacts such as road closures and some rock movement as of Sunday night, is expecting another 2 to 4 inches of rain, officials said.
The most rain in a 24-hour period in Las Vegas was 2.59 inches on Aug. 20-21, 1957, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Daniel Berc of the service said the risk to the Las Vegas Valley is lower than originally anticipated but still a concern.
The Las Vegas Valley remains under a flash flood watch until Monday afternoon.
“We are not out of the woods,” Berc said. “It is still a good risk. It is still a very, very, high amount of rain for this time of year.”
Steven Parrish, the general manager of the Regional Flood Control District, said that Clark County is seeing a few feet of water flowing through the water basins.
“We have a lot of capacity in the system but we are expecting more rain later today,” Parrish said Sunday.
He said there’s a concern that debris could cause backups in the system, but as of Sunday the water was draining without any issues.
There are other concerns in addition to rain.
Berc said Hurricane Hilary, which has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, is moving faster and that brings a larger concern for higher winds to the Las Vegas Valley. He said winds could reach 40 miles to hour with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour. The higher winds bring a greater risk of power outages.
The area has a very low risk of seeing other storm-related dangers, including a 5% to 14% chance of seeing tropical-force winds up to 75 mph and 2% to 4% chance of tornadoes.
Berc said tornadoes would be small spin-ups that track a short distance in contrast with super cells seen in the midwest.
Flooding concerns could remain, even with regular rain fall amounts, because the environment will already be saturated, he said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has mobilized and is ready to respond quickly in Nevada, if needed following Hurricane Hilary, administrator Deanna Criswell said during a White House conference call Saturday afternoon.
“We stand ready to support and provide resources as needed,” Criswell said.
Criswell said she’s been in contact with Lombardo and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
“I always like to reach out to the governors to open that communication,” Criswell said.
She said staff and federal assistance teams have been deployed to the area. Communications equipment and logistics resources have also been set up.
Gov. Lombardo activated 100 National Guard troops to Southern Nevada on Friday night.
In a news release issued late Saturday afternoon, Lombardo urges “all Nevadans to take this threat seriously, to prepare for severe weather, and to follow the guidance of emergency officials.”
Clark County officials urged residents and visitors to be safe via a statement released earlier in the day.
“It’s important that our residents and visitors are aware of the serious dangers posed by flash-flooding as a result of the storm surge that is expected to occur this weekend in our region,” Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said. “We advise the public to please take heed of the warnings to not to drive through flooded roads or around barricades and to stay home from recreational areas like Red Rock, Lake Mead and Mount Charleston where roads and trails could wash out with little notice.”
As of 8 a.m. today, Tropical Storm Hilary was moving about 25 miles per with maximum sustained winds near 70 miles per hour.
The center of the storm is expected to move near or over the Baja California Peninsula in the next few hours and then into southern California this afternoon, according to the National Hurricane center.