Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 4

ra jf John White Attorney John spent Tjrsjav and Wedges Z3t to s.ie tne hstonc 20tn Century Club bunding on First and Arlington steets. White, who owns the building and has iaw offices at the facility, spent Wednesday night at the site, accord- sievvdn icnds 1 wecmc hoiped Wh'to, mclud'ng his two o'd-est Cameron and Laim-n. his brother. Geoff White, sister Mary Stewart: ana nephew Trevor Wh'te Helen Stewart said that although she admired her son's effort to save the buildmg. "I really just wanted to get out of Heroes Aerial inspection reveals inland seas of chocolate-colored water "It's a frightening sight.

I was shocked It looks totally uncharacteristic of Nevada. Gov. Bob Miller Brown waterfalls leaping into the Helms pit mere feet away from Interstate 80: Carson-Tahoe Hospital the capital surrounded by streets of mud; the U.S. 395 freeway in Washoe Valley dunked in at least two places by Washoe Lake. After two days of flooding rains.

Millerwas encouraged to see clouds breaking up Thursday afternoon. And he complimented emergency crew and volunteers. "There's a great deal of work still to be done. But they all deserve commendations." he said. "The one thing in our favor is the good work of local officials." The heai! agricultural a I lev looked more like rice paddies in Southeast sia.

Miller said. And the torrents of water streaming down the steep mountainsides above historic Genoa reminded him of the rain-forest cascades in Hawaii. "It's a frightening sight. I was shocked. It looks totally uncharacteristic of Nevada." Miller said after the two-hour trip that began and ended at Stead because the Reno'T ahoe International Airport was under water.

"No question this is a disaster area." Miller said of Washoe, By BillO'Driscoll Rl OGZFTTF-JOl RVU There was a river down there somewhere beneath all that chocolate milk. From 800 feet up in a Nevada Army National Guard Chinook helicopter, the view of the muddy expanse belched into Reno and Sparks by the flooding Truckee River as breathtaking. The Sparks warehouse district resembled a giant marina with telltale rainbow streaks of fuel or oil. Hidden Valley descended into a lakefront. Nearby Pembroke Drive Dnc couldn't be seen.

The ice-skating rmk at Sierra and 1 irst streets looked like a swimming pool. The amusement park ndc were all that gave away ldlcwiid Park's location. It was similarly awesome ocr the Carson Valley for Gov. Bob Miller and state emergency officials who conducted an aerial inspection Thursday afternoon. The entire northeast quadrant, where the Carson River leaves the alley, was inundated.

To the south. do7ens of homes were immersed where the foamy-brown nv ergushed out of the mountains. Douglas. Storey. I.

yon and Carson City counties. lie's already declared states ol emergency in the region. After otli-cials assess the damage and meet with the federal Emergency Management Administration, the agency, with President Clinton's signature, will declare a federal disaster, making low-cost loans available for victims. When that will happen, and what the damage estimates were as of Thursday. Millerwas uncertain.

But. "It looks like tens to hundreds of millions." lie said. Other sights stuck in his mind: disappeared into a cluster of homes several feet deep in ater. In downtown Reno. Riverside Worst Swope Middle School DOWNTOWN Reed High School RenoSparks flooding As of early Thursday evening, these are the areas of severe flooding, along with evacuated areas and road closures.

jTk McQueen RENO oo V.VX- r-r. t-T High School vy, Fourth fj i Vassar Reno 1 I ''vS High I ml 1 KimteK MAYBERHY i r'i ff HIGHLAND mMT a I A Pembrok? PARK J0 5 mr fj if fri Pine course i I I'- tM-to--- school 3 HIDDEN-. 1 I i S. McCarran VALLEY 1 linn i If 1 5 4 l'i' HUFFAKER bjj i 1 HILLS 1 i fcnj 1 LEGEND I H' i i i Truckee River VV'fVK V'm Flooded area i 1 ax Evacuatedarea 1 From page 1 A 16.5 feet this morning a lev el it reached at 7 p.m. Thursday and Gov.

Bob Miller has asked non-essential state employees to stay home. That, he said, was at the request of Carson City officials who want to minimize auto traffic on the city 's flooded streets. Flooding Wednesday and Thursday in much of downtown Reno and low-lying areas of Sparks forced evacuation of hundreds of people, swept through homes and businesses and closed hotel-casinos, highways, roads, bridges. RcnoTahoe International Airport and the Mustang Ranch brothel. The flood also may have taken its first life a Thursday ev ening search failed to turn up a heavy equipment operator swept away in the Carson River while attempting to shore up the bank near the Ri-verview Mobile Home Park in Gardnerville.

Preliminary estimates were of damage of at least $33 million in Washoe County and $100 million in the state. While the worst may be over, there is still idespread flooding to contend with. Washoe County-Manager John Maclntyre said. "1 think through the night now is going to tell the tale." he said. "We've still got dangerous flood situations out there.

We're not out of the woods yet. As long as the trend continues, if it continues this way through the night. I might be willing to say when daylight comes that we're starting to see the edge of the woods. "We have very, very significant problems still existing in Sparks, down in the industrial and residential areas, in Hidden Valley. Rosewood and Mira Loma." The county ordered another 500.000 sandbags, en route Thursday night by airplane from McClel-lan Air Force Base near Sacramento.

County officials could not estimate the number of sandbags already in use. Brown said what now concerns him is that temperatures are to drop to the mid-20s in alley areas tonight, and some people are without electricity or gas for heat. Bob Sagan. Sierra Pacific Power Co. spokesman, said about 500 business and residential customers were ithout power late Thursday.

Power company crews and some contractors were working to restore power as conditions perm it. Charlie Fletcher, another power company spokesman, said about 30 business and residential customers, primarily in downtown Reno, were without natural-gas service Thursday night. That service is being restored as weather permits. Officials said the area's water supply is "adequate and safe." with no orders to boil water in effect in the area. But throughout the day and into the evening on Thursday Sierra Pacific cut off electrical serv ice in flooded casino and industrial areas, sometimes at the request of large electrical power users who preferred to use their own Vine St.

from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Washington St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Ralston St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River.

Arlington Ave. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. West St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Sierra St, from railroad tracks to Truckee River.

Virginia St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Center St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Lake St from railroad tracks to Truckee River.

Evans St. from railroad tracks to Truckee River. Booth St. from Riverside to Foster Drive. Second St.

From Keystone to Wells Ave. Mark BartleyHeno Gaene-Journal 1 0 Fvacuation center Closed roads'hridges One-hundred-year flood plane boundary A. Mir 1. Budge near CRASHING WAVES: The Truckee River crashes against the Booth Stree downtown Reno Thursday. "'We've had some problem getting out our product south to Carson City and (iardnerv ille.

but we understand that Interstate 80 is open, so if we have to. we'll go around to I crnlcy and take Inching way Scolan's has had a run on bottled water, hut the company has water stored 111 its Sparks distribution facility, he said. LS: uhic leet per second, the amount ol wafer that is How nig in the river. One cubic foot per second equals 7. 48 gallons per second or 448.8 gallons a minute.

So in Sparks, when river flow was recorded at 25.155 cfs Thursday night. I l.i million gallons ol water a minute were coursing dow list ream. Flood sfage: I he level at which a river ov li How its hanks. It is nieasuied fioni the river bottom to the lop of the wafer. Flood stage vanes at different sites along a river, for example, the Carson River Hood warning: flooding is about looccui 01 isoccuiiing.

lood watcli: A flood is possible or likely. lOO-u-ar flood: In theory a flood of this magnitude is supposed to occur once every 100 years. Inutility, a Hood ol this magnitude lias a I percent chance of occurring every year, so it is possible to beat the odds and have a 100-year flood several times 111 a centurv. lurhiditv: niounl of suspended sediment in the water. I he muddier the water, the tougher it is for water plants to clean the water for While the backhoe operator in Douglas County who slipped into the Carson River is presumed dead, the Washoe County coroner's office said no deaths are attributable to the flooding that began Wednesday as a chain of Pacific storms released warm rain onto the Sierra snowpack.

flowing down sodden mountainsides into the river. A rescue fireboat capsized on the Truckee with three firefighters on board. All were located and are safe. Hundreds of volunteers continued sandbagging late Thursday in downtown Reno, and some hotel-casinos close to the Truckee evacuated their guests to hotel-casinos on higher ground. Hundreds of area residents were evacuated from flood-prone areas and about 210 checked in at Red Cross disaster shelters.

While the total number of olunteers involved in sandbagging efforts was inestimable. 468 people in Nevada Division of forestry crews were assisting with sandbagging in Washoe. Carson City. Storey. Lyon, and Douglas Counlies.

alreadv declared disaster areas In Highwuvs: Most major area high- ways were expected to be open today, some for the first time in more than 24 hours. Westbound lanes oflnterstate K0 were expected to open sometime today. U.S. 395 between Reno and Carson City was expected to be closed except to local traffic through this afternoon. Mount Rose Highway was expected to be reopened this afternoon after crews cleared mudslides, debris and rocks from the highway.

Pyramid Highway remained closed Thursday night, with some of the highway undermined by lloodwaters. Interstate NO was closed briefly Thursday at Tracv when a mudslide sprawled across all four lanes. At the state line, westbound Interstate 80 was closed almost all day due to mudslides and easthound lanes were open with pilot-car escorts. The easthound lanes opened to regular traffic at 9:15 p.m. Thursday.

Last- and westbound tram traffic through Reno was slopped by at least four rail bed washouts, according to Mike I urtnev. Union Pacific spokesman. He said the railroad hopes to have service restored today. Water use: At noon Thursday. Sparks officials asked residents to reduce water use because the sewer plant was running at double capacity.

The I ruckee Meadows ater Quality Reclamation Facility was tor ol the Nev ac etroleum Mar-said there was kcters Assoc Truckee: In Truckee. officials I hursday dealt with a smoking power transformer in the river, where power poles were standing 111 ater. Serious erosion occurred on West River Street and the street was closed, said Judy Mohr. a spokesman for the '1 ruckee Fire Protection District. She said officials were warning residents to be careful when driving in water-covered streets that thev know what's beneath the water.

Residents and evacuees from low areas were taking shelter at I ruckee l.lenicnlary School. A propane gas tank broke loose I hursday morning near West River Si reel and was venting. a result, officials evacuated oxmead Fane, about midwav between California 2()7 and California 89. Officials evacuated residents of West River Street. Donner Creek Mobile Home Park and Dccrfield Drive I hursday morning.

Those living at Donner Creek and Dccrfield were allowed to return later in the da. enough gasoline or the area in the i at arson Citv reaches flood stage at 10 feet, but the same river near (iardnerville hits flood stage at 7 1 feet. designed to handle 40 million gallons of sewer water a day. but was up to 80 million gallons'! hursday. Hidden Valley icsidenls were asked lo conserve water because the area's wells are out of serv ice.

I he rising water has not interfered with the drinking water supply, which is sate. Westpac officials said. Food and fuel: fuel and grocery supplies throughout the area had little problem, despite road closures thai hampered transport of those commodities into the Truckee Meadows. Peter Krueger. executive direc- Spai ks tank farm.

bout 7(i percent of the gasoline and diesel thai comes to western Nevada anives via pipeline at the Spai ks tank farm and about 30 percent comes by truck lie said. Jan Gilbert, ice president ol buying and merchandising at Scolan's ood Drug Co. 111 Sparks, said his is the only grocei store with a distribution ccntei in Nevada. "We had deliveries this morning and we have inventory here." he said. Send us your flood photo The Reno Gazette-Journal wants your best flood photo.

Please send in a print with the information coupon attached. Note: prints will not be returned. Thousands evacuate in Sacramento County Marilyn Newtonfleno GazellQ-Joumat A Corvair is submerged by flood waters at the River Bend Trailer Park Wednesday afternoon as the Truckee River overflowed its banks. Hlin and spnrt with vnnr nhntn-o- sr Kii'i's i i in wish kn SI RVK 1. SAC RAMF VI O.Calif'.

fueled by unceasing rams and snow melt, the Cosumnes River exploded over its banks and through a scries of levees Thursday to flood doens of homes and force the evacuation of at least 1 5.000 residents throughout southern Sacramento County While flood-control officials focused their efforts on the rapidly rising American and Sacramento rivers, the Cosumnes began overflow ing I hursday 11101 nine and took authorities ami icsidenls by surprise as its wateis streamed into countless homes, ranches and farmhouses in Wilton. Officials we re overwhelmed at the extent and rapid pace of the flooding, and conceded Thursday that they had no idea how lorn; would he before evacuees weic pei 111 itted to ret rn to flooded a reas. "We don't know whether they will be gone foi 24 hours or five days." County Bob Thomas said. Thousands of residents found themselves stranded by water suiiounding all of Wilton, an unincorporated community soudi ol I.Ik Grove, and nearby areas. Counties-, others were cut (iff from dry land hen the riv er roared along Highway 16 and threatened thj community of Rancho Muieta east of Sacramento, but no homes there were Hooded.

Authorities also evaluated I he Murieta Village, a tiailer park near the city's airport, accoidmg to American River hie District battalion chiefl rne-t Siillman. Residents could seek refuge at the community's clubhouse, which lav on the north sideol tl 1 iv cr.orwcrc told to drive out ol the area, no easv tuck since most of the roads, including Jackson Highway west of town, were closed. Within hours. Highway 99 was closed and Interstate 5 was threatened by lloodwaters which were flowing west toward low-lying communities 111 the Delta. ISy late Thuisday.

as many as I 5. OOf i people were being evacuated from a 40-mile-longswathofmostlv rural land from the Sloughouse area southwest toward the (intra Costa County line. Hundreds more were streaming out of hornton in San Joaquin County, where the rain-swollen Mokelumne River was nearing flood stage late I hursdav. Another I 1 00 inmates were being moved from the Rio Cosumnes oneetion Center south of I lk Grove because of flooding Authorities said they were thankful that no deaths or serious injuries had been reported as a result of the Sacramento area lloodmu. Date Location of where photo taken Description of photo.