East Las Vegas Valley neighborhood gets relief just in time for flash flood season

The start of monsoon season used to be something to dread in the flood-prone neighborhood along the Las Vegas Wash near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard.

Now residents there can simply enjoy the rain — and a reduction in their insurance rates.

As a result of roughly $100 million in flood-control improvements completed last year on and around what used to be Desert Rose Golf Course, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to release about 1,400 homes in that area from a flood-zone designation that required residents to buy flood insurance at about four times the usual rate.

Erin Neff, spokeswoman for the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, said FEMA announced its decision in May. The change is slated to become official Sept. 22, after which residents should be able to buy flood insurance at a significantly reduced price, though they no longer will be required to do so.

On Sept. 11, 2012, a flash flood swept through county-owned Desert Rose Golf Course, drowning a maintenance worker and inundating the surrounding homes.

A little under two years later, work began on what turned out to be the largest project in Flood Control District history. The job involved construction of a longer, higher Sahara Avenue bridge, improvements to four miles of storm channels through the area, and the total transformation of the golf course into a detention basin capable of handling a 100-year flood at the confluence of the Las Vegas and Flamingo washes, where stormwater from about two-thirds of the valley converges on its way downhill to Lake Mead.

The rebuilt golf course, now known as the Club at Sunrise, is slated to reopen in a few weeks.

The cooperative effort by the county, the City of Las Vegas and the flood district was paid for with money from a quarter-cent sales tax collected in the county.

More flood-control work underway in the same general area is expected to get another 300 homes out of the federally designated flood zone. That project is scheduled for completion in December.

“It’s a great thing for residents,” Neff said.

Her comments came Wednesday during an annual flash flood safety briefing, held this year at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas.

With monsoon season ramping up, weather forecasters, flood-control officials and rescue personnel gathered to remind the public to pay attention to the weather and avoid flooded areas.

There’s even an app for that: FloodSpot, which is free and available for Apple and Android devices, includes weather information, alerts, crowd-sourced flood reporting and interactive flood-zone maps.

“You really need to respect these storms and recognize that these flows are dangerous,” said Steve Parrish, chief engineer and general manager for the flood control district.

“Don’t drive into flood waters that are moving. It doesn’t matter how deep they are,” said Todd Lericos from the National Weather Service.

“It is unbelievable how powerful and how fast water can be,” said Clark County Fire Department Chief Greg Cassel.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find @RefriedBrean on Twitter.