Roads near Topaz Lake washed out by flood waters: ‘We need help’

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - “I had no idea how much destruction it was down here,” said Sharon Becker, a resident of the Topaz Ranch Estates.

“I was just flabbergasted.”

As rain poured down on Nevada last week, flood waters rose. Water ripped through neighborhoods like the Topaz Ranch Estates and washed out sections of roadway.

“It went from a small stream to a 100-foot-wide stream flowing through people’s homes in a matter of a half an hour,” said Brandon Taylor, the Chairman of the Topaz Ranch Estates General Improvement District Board.

“This is just the destruction we saw from a force of nature and what it can do,” said Becker.

Becker and her neighbors are worried about other residents who can’t get out of their homes.

“Our community is mainly people in the older generation, a lot of retired people, a lot of senior citizens,” said Taylor.

“A lot of people have fixed budgets, they have small cars and that’s what gets them to town. In this, they’re not getting to town.”

They’ve turned to each other for help, grabbing shovels and clearing driveways.

“We have community members volunteering their equipment, we just don’t have the manpower to do it at this point,” Taylor said.

Taylor added that the district’s roadcrew is made up of three employees.

“We need help,” said Becker. “We need help soon, not in a month. We need something to get our roads passable now.”

They’re asking the state to send emergency services and federal funding.

“We know how federal funding works, it takes time,” said Taylor.

“So, we’re gonna hope we can patch it up the best we can. But if there’s some emergency funding or funds we can get quickly, it would definitely help the community.”

Now, they wait for help and hope no one forgets about their small town.

“They need to remember that it’s not just about Las Vegas and it’s not just about Reno,” Taylor said.

“There’s a lot of small communities and we need the support from the state just as much as those big cities.”

Copyright 2023 KOLO. All rights reserved.