Power loss, gas leak cause chaos

Friday, July 9, 1999 | 10:50 a.m.

Electricity went off for 2,500 Nevada Power Co. customers at the height of Thursday's storm. A natural gas pipeline broke on Boulder Highway, and Clark County's sewage treatment plant operated at full throttle.

For Southern Nevada's utilities Thursday's storm turned a routine day into chaos.

Between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Nevada Power customers near Flamingo and Paradise roads, Topaz Avenue and Spencer Street, Bonanza and Washington avenues, Nellis Boulevard and Owens Avenue and Centennial Parkway near U.S. 95 and Ann Road could not run lights or air conditioners, Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonya Headen said.

By 4 p.m. about 500 customers were still without power.

The biggest Nevada Power customer affected was the North Las Vegas Airport, Headen said. Power lines and a transformer were under water.

Southwest Gas Corp. was called by 75 customers who smelled gas leaks, spokesman Roger Buehrer said. On average four or five consumers call a day about leaks, he said.

A natural gas service line leading to the Ramada Vacation Suites at 300 Boulder Highway broke during the flood. The motel was evacuated by the Clark County Fire Department, and Southwest Gas crews dug down to the plastic gas line and pinched it shut by 7 p.m., Buehrer said.

Then Southwest service teams removed two gas meters from homes at the Miracle Mile Mobile Home Park across the street and shut down five other meters as floodwaters rampaged through the park, Buehrer said.

The Clark County Sanitation District's waste water treatment plant ran at full capacity Thursday, Director Jim Gans said.

"We're holding our own, but we've never had this much water," Gans said.

Normally the plant at the east end of Flamingo Road treats 90 million gallons of sewage a day. Thursday's load reached 150 million gallons.

A station that lifts untreated sewage over Whitney Mesa in the southeast valley continued operating, but could not communicate with sanitation workers in the plant. "The crews can't get to it at this time and lines may be broken that we don't know about until the floodwaters go down," Gans said.