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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada weekend storm that got a boost from another that started in the Pacific Northwest pummeled the state's main roads closing some for more than a hundred miles in each direction.
Almost 140 miles of U.S. Highway 95 linking Las Vegas and Reno was closed in both directions Sunday and then Monday first for flooding and then for a fire near Beatty, Nevada at a radioactive waste site.
The route remained closed between Nevada towns Tonopah and Beatty except to residents on Monday. U.S. Highway 373 from Nevada's highway 95 to the California state line and highways 267 and 374 were also closed between Nevada and Death Valley National Park, according to the Nye County Sheriff's office.
Several roads were closed inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area including the Willow Beach and Temple Bar access roads and where an RV was abandoned in mud at Nevada Telephone Cover Road.
The storm led Las Vegas Police search teams to rescue seven people in three different circumstances by hoisting them by helicopter from vehicles caught in the flood. Las Vegas Police Officer Larry Hadfield said none of the individuals rescued Sunday, including a married couple, a mother with her two children and a pair who were riding off-road vehicles, were injured.
"As of today, (the storm is) finally starting to move east," toward northern Arizona and southern Utah, said Nathan Foster, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Nevada. He said Sunday storm's represented quite a bit of energy in the atmosphere.
"It's unusual to have this amount of moisture in October," he said.
The slow-moving storm started late last week with heavy rains over Death Valley National Park and continued to hit other areas through the weekend.
So far, southern Nevada has had 1.15 inches of rain in October, according to recordings at McCarran International Airport, he said.
With two weeks left to go, the level is already the third-highest it's been for the month. Foster said the largest recorded amount of rain, 1.45 inches, fell in October 2005.
As of Monday afternoon, U.S. 95 between State Route 160 in Pahrump to U.S. Route 6 in Tonopah remained closed because of the fire in addition to a stretch closed for flooding south of Tonopah to an area north of Goldfield. State Route 267 between Death Valley National Park at the California state line and the U.S. 95 also remained closed, said Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Illia said.
The closure between State Route 160 in Pahrump to U.S. Route 6 in Tonopah, began Sunday morning after reports of flooding due to intense thunderstorms.
It was extended after the fire was reported Sunday evening, Illia said.
To the west of Las Vegas, the storm had also led to road closures on Charleston Blvd where it heads into Red Rock Canyon. Interstate 15 was closed temporarily near Apex.
No injuries were reported during the storms.
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This story has been corrected to note U.S. 95 is still closed between State Route 160 in Pahrump to U.S. Route 6 in Tonopah.
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