Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Carson City street and water workers shore up the intersection of Timberline Drive and Combs Canyon Road on Thursday afternoon. The area was left susceptible to flooding after the 2004 Waterfall fire. Rainfall Wednesday and early Thursday likely brought Carson's rainfall total to 4 inches since Thanksgiving.
The weather was expected to ease up today after the area was pounded by rain and wind late Wednesday and early Thursday.
Several areas flooded because of the rain, which was at its heaviest beginning around 7 p.m. Wednesday. No areas were heavily damaged, however.
"We were lucky," said Larry Werner, city engineer. "The ground is very, very wet."
Crews were prepared to respond to problems throughout the night, if necessary, Werner said.
The rain, however, was expected to begin tapering off late Thursday.
Areas of chief concern to city crews included Ash Canyon, Vicee Canyon, Longview Drive and Old Clear Creek Road.
Workers spent a great deal of time Thursday protecting the roadways at Combs Canyon Road and Timberline Drive, where rain fell Thursday until the early afternoon, said Curtis Horton, water operations chief.
Adding to the overall water accumulation was the leftover snow "being polished off by the rain," Horton said. "You get pretty good flows from it."
The lack of hillside vegetation because of the Waterfall fire has made many canyons in the area vulnerable and potentially dangerous to the people below, Werner said.
People are urged to stay away from Ash Canyon, where part of the road had crumbled previously because of the continuous wet weather.
Flooding also occurred along North Carson Street and Nye Lane, on Lakeview Drive and Combs Canyon Road.
"There was a lot of rainfall in a very short period of time," said Mike Klug, fire management officer for the Nevada Department of Forestry. "The hills are pretty saturated right now."
NDF crews were assisting the city in clearing up trouble spots.
Carson City received 3 inches of rain since Thanksgiving, not including Wednesday. In this week's storm another inch of rain fell. The area already has received half of its annual rainfall total, said Rhett Milne, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.
Today is expected to be partly cloudy, with patchy fog tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
For your information
• Carson City residents are asked to call the city if they see any unusual flood conditions. Call 887-2355 during office hours and 887-2343 for street flooding after hours.
• To check road conditions, call 1-877-687-6237 (1-877-NVROADS) or go to www.nevadadot.com/traveler/
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