Monster storm floods town, piles up snow

Six snowmobilers, two
skiers and a hiker are lost
in the deep snow.

FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) — Hundreds of homes sat in as much as 8 feet of water Sunday after a canal rupture as freezing weather spread sheets of ice over yards and streets, hindering efforts to get the water to drain away.

As many as 300 homes were damaged when the canal’s bank gave way after heavy rainfall produced by the West Coast storm system that had piled snow as much as 11 feet deep in the Sierra Nevada.

Thousands of customers had been blacked out in three states and many of them in California could remain in the dark for days because the storm ripped down nearly 500 miles of power lines, utility officials said Sunday. More than 215,000 people remained without power in Northern California alone.

Six snowmobilers and two skiers were reported missing in heavy snow in the mountains of southern Colorado, and one hiker was missing in snow-covered mountains in Southern California.

The storm was blamed for at least three deaths.

The irrigation canal failure at Fernley released a wave of frigid water into the town early Saturday.

“In 10 minutes the entire backyard was completely flooded. It was just nothing but water,” said Kristin Watson, whose home backs up to part of the canal. “We just sort of panicked because we knew we had to get out of there real quick.”

The canal was temporarily repaired by late in the day, but as much as a square mile of the town was still under water at least 2 feet deep Sunday as ice impeded drainage.

“Our hope is over the next 24 hours to get the water out,” Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler said at a briefing Sunday morning. “But we still have up to 8 feet of water in some areas. We need to keep the storm drains unclogged to keep the water moving to a wetland. We also may need to do some pumping in some areas.”

Lyon County Fire Division Chief Scott Huntley estimated 1,500 people had been displaced. No injuries were reported in the town of 20,000 people about 30 miles east of Reno.

Huntley said officials knew of 18 cases of people rescued from atop homes or cars as fire department and private boats plus four helicopters were pressed into action Saturday, but he believes there were many more.

Rescuers in Colorado resumed a search Sunday for six snowmobilers last seen Friday, before the storm dumped 3 to 4 feet of snow near Cumbres Pass, close to the New Mexico line.

The snowmobilers were two couples from Farmington, N.M., and their two children, ages 14 and 13, said Betty Groen, the stepmother of one of the missing men.

Donna Oney of the Colorado State Patrol said search and rescue team members and three deputies were looking for the snowmobilers.