Nevada Army National Guard Soldiers were activated last winter after record-breaking precipitation in the mountain- and valley-flooded communities in the northern region of the State.
Snow in the Sierra Nevada and Carson Ranges last January was 200 percent more than normal. With an average elevation of 10,500 feet, the winter precipitation amounted to thousands of acres of snow. In December 2016, massive amounts of rainfall in the foothills and valleys east of the Sierra broke the century-old annual rainfall record just four months into the season. The rain brought significant, but not yet disaster-level, flooding to the region. This initial flooding caused damage to local water pipes, leaving rural communities without potable water.
“In some areas, the water was so deep the only way we could avoid contact was to stand on top of the flatbed trucks while we built the HESCO walls,” said SSG Sather. “My direction to my Soldiers was simple ‘DO NOT touch the water’.”
Then the disaster came. Unseasonably warm temperatures caused faster than normal melting of the record-breaking snowfall. Water from the snow combined with floodwater from the December rains that had not yet fully subsided and created one of the worst major floods the State of Nevada has ever seen. Water rushed into local streams and rivers, spilled into reservoirs and lakes and descended upon Lemmon Valley, located about 10 miles north of Reno.
Nevada normally averages less than 10 inches of precipitation a year and is listed as the driest State in the country. Parts of the State had been experiencing a drought for several years. Ironically, local residents sometimes quipped that droughts end with floods.
President Donald Trump approved Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval’s request for a Presidential Declaration of Disaster for northern Nevada in February 2017. The declaration received an extension through March 2017, at which point the National Guard was activated. By mid-March, 140 National Guard members were activated in response to the floods, which is more than the number activated in response to wildfires in the State brought on by the drought. In fact, this was the State’s largest National Guard operation of its kind in 20 years. While the entire northern region of Nevada was under the declaration of disaster – including Washoe County, Elko County, Humboldt County and Douglas County – Lemmon Valley in Washoe County sustained the brunt of the flooding.
For three weeks, Guard members filled and placed more than 10,000 sandbags to protect homes. Four miles of HESCO walls, using 12,000 cubic yards of sand, were built in front of homes, septic tanks and wells to hold back the floodwaters. Units activated were from the Nevada Army National Guard’s 757th Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1895th Transportation Company, 609th Engineer Company, 485th Military Police Company and the 150th Maintenance Company, according to Battle Born, a publication of the Nevada National Guard. Airmen came from the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Security Forces Squadron and the 152nd Civil Engineer Squadron.
Light Medium Tactical Vehicles, dump trucks and flatbeds were all used for the transportation of equipment, including sandbags. Air National Guard civil engineers provided an additional six vehicles, and two Army National Guard water buffalos were used.
“Our initial mission was to fill sandbags around houses for three days,” said SGT Nicholas Cotham of the 609th Engineer Company – one of the few combat units in Nevada. “My unit had experience with HESCO walls, and we got tasked with building the walls.” Army National Guard Soldiers opened miles of the HESCO accordion-like woven material as Air National Guard Airmen operated skid steers to put down sand to fill in the walls. “We did very little with shovels; it was the skid steer that was putting sand in the wall,” SGT Cotham noted, adding that his unit constructed about half of the four miles of wall.
Soldiers also drove dump trucks to huge sand piles, loaded up with sand and then dumped it in locations near the HESCO wall construction. Local fire crews, from the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, helped the mission by filling sandbags as well. Other agencies involved in the $3.5 million flood response were the Nevada Division of Forestry and the Nevada Division of Emergency Management. According to SSG Cameron Sather, the NCOIC of the relief mission, Soldiers and emergency response personnel filled and placed 25,000 sand bags a day for the first seven days of the response.
Once the four-foot-high wall was in place, Soldiers hooked up 10-inch-wide pumps on the residential side and pumped water over the wall and back toward the lake. Some of those pumps currently remain in place. They are turned on and off when needed, as the lake continues to threaten flooding when heavy rains, which now occur on a regular basis, fall on the region.
Swan Lake, the main conduit of the flooding, sits directly on the edge of Lemmon Valley. Homes and shopping centers are built just yards from its shoreline. Though this same lake has flooded to lesser degrees in the past – once in 1986 and again in 2002 – it had been dried out by the drought, and sat as a barren dust bowl for five years. During the January floods, Swan Lake filled to nearly eight feet deep and began spilling over into the yards of nearby homes. SGT Cotham noted seeing floodwater 10 to 12 inches deep in front of some houses. Nevada National Guard reported that floodwaters moved within proximity of 300 homes.
SPC Robert Baker of the 150th Maintenance Company noted seeing cars halfway submerged in floodwaters and the property around homes completely underwater. “An average civilian vehicle can’t traverse through water that’s two to three feet deep, but the National Guard’s dump trucks were able to move through flooded streets,” SPC Baker said.
While many of the Soldiers knew the dangers of responding to natural disasters, such as wildfires, they learned first-hand that responding to a flood disaster comes with unique risks. Septic tanks had been unearthed during the flooding, and Soldiers were warned not to expose their bare skin to the water, as floodwater can be contaminated with human waste from storm and sewer drains, runoff from farms and even animal carcasses.
According to SSG Sather, the Nevada Division of Emergency Management distributed rubber gloves and boots to every Soldier and emergency responder. They also had decontamination units on site every day.
“In some areas, the water was so deep the only way we could avoid contact was to stand on top of the flatbed trucks while we built the HESCO walls,” said SSG Sather. “My direction to my Soldiers was simple ‘DO NOT touch the water’.”
Local residents caught in the floods showed their appreciation for the Soldiers’ work and presence however they could. “A lot of people were very thankful when we arrived,” said SPC Baker. “There were 20 of us working together and one lady approached us in tears. She was so thankful for everything we were doing.”
SGT Cotham noted an appreciative couple that put together a backyard barbecue for Cotham’s unit. Others gave the Soldiers bottled water and Gatorade to help them as they worked 12- to 14-hour days.
SGT Cotham also expressed his appreciation for being able to serve his State and his community. “The reason I signed up for the National Guard was to help my community. One of the reasons a lot of [Soldiers] sign up is to help their local community.”
SSG Sather commented on the extreme preparedness and dedication of the Nevada Army National Guard Soldiers. “For 90 percent of the Soldiers, this was [the] biggest thing they had ever seen. Most of them are too young to remember the last time the lake flooded back in 2002. Their response was phenomenal. So many Soldiers volunteered to serve that we actually had to turn some away. We just didn’t have enough trucks to put all of them to work.” He went on to remark that Nevada is a dry State, with a very high elevation and sits in the valley of some very large mountains. This means the State remains in perpetual risk of fires, floods and dangerous snow. “We must remain exceptionally prepared,” said SSG Sather.
“We train constantly for this. We’ve got the vehicles, the people, the morale. We’re always ready to go.”
“The magnitude of the response, and the way Soldiers and Airmen answered the call on short notice, truly shows the Nevada Guard’s dedication to its State,” said BG Zachary Doser, Director Joint Staff, Nevada National Guard. “This response helped the citizens of Lemmon Valley, and the Guard remains ready to respond to future domestic operations in the face of more potential floods in the region.”
By Staff Writer Eric Miller
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