Storms cause minor damage
Monsoon season brought damage to Boulder City as the town was hit with a collection of storms last week. Luckily, the city was able to handle the storms in an efficient manner, according to officials, who dealt with the typical gravel and rock erosion, power outages and roof leaks.
“Overall, our flood control facilities worked well and will need maintenance to clean out accumulated sediment and debris from these storms. We had a couple of minor roof leaks at some city facilities, but nothing that caused major damage. Our roof replacements over the recent years are paying off,” said Jim Keane, acting public works director and city engineer.
“It’s mostly been significant, major cleanup on streets for us. We do have some erosion on the sides of some streets and around utility vaults and street light bases that need to be filled, as well as some concrete repairs that will take some time to complete,” he added.
There was a clogged drainage ditch on Bristlecone Drive, which caused water runoff and erosion on the Boulder Creek Golf Club, said a course employee. Two holes were temporarily closed with the Desert Hawk course shut down for a day. Everything was back up the following day.
There was also some damage to the River Mountain Trail Loop.
Lake Mountain Estates homeowners association reported several patio covers and carports were destroyed by the storm’s wind. One wooden beam punctured the wall of an adjacent home. When a porch roof was lifted, it also damaged the home’s roof causing water damage to its kitchen.
In terms of raw statistics, Boulder City saw 0.72 inches of rain July 27 and 0.35 inches the following day. Wind speeds reached 42 miles per hour during the night July 28.
One of the silver linings from all of the rainfall has been the water levels of Lake Mead. Thanks to the showers, Lake Mead has risen 3 inches. The lake was measured at 1,040.99 feet above sea level at the Hoover Dam on July 31. This was an increase from the measurement done July 26, when the lake was at 1040.75 feet.
According to Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman Bronson Mack, additional water runoff into the lake added four-tenths of an inch to the lake.
Contact reporter Owen Krepps at okrepps@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow him on Twitter @OKrepps85.
