Officials say flood-control system worked

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 10 a.m.

The July 8 storm would have caused more deaths and more damage if it weren't for flood-control efforts over the last decade, Regional Flood District staff members said Thursday.

"While the estimates of damages to public properties are believed to be in excess of $20.5 million, the extent of the damages and loss of life are likely to have been much worse had it not been for completed flood-control facilities," Timothy E. Sutko, the district's senior hydrologist, told district board members.

"All of the completed facilities appear to have functioned as designed and provided a significant umbrella of protection to downstream properties."

Two deaths occurred in the flooding, one a drowning in hard-hit Flamingo Wash and the other in a weather-related traffic accident. President Clinton declared the Las Vegas Valley a federal disaster area, entitling people with storm-damaged homes to receive low-interest loans.

Sutko said many of the rain gauges and detention basins exceeded 100-year flood levels. Gale Fraser, Flood Control District general manager, said the fact that damage wasn't more extensive showed that the district's flood-control efforts worked.

"It reinforces the need to continue district programs," he said.

"The what-if in this scenario is just unbelievable," said Larry Brown, Las Vegas councilman and district board member. "It could have been catastrophic."

Fraser said the media contributed to keeping loss of life and damage down by alerting the public early and thoroughly.

The flood showed the importance of using hardened structures on washes, he said. Many of the dirt-walled washes in the flood suffered severe erosion.

In response to a question from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Fraser said a similar rainfall event in 2026 -- when all the district's flood control plans should be in effect -- would not cause significant damage.