Minden, Nevada – Douglas County Emergency Management is currently working on managing the current flooding in the Stephanie and Johnson Lane areas of Douglas County.

Douglas County, like other northern Nevada Counties has been hit with several daily rounds of heavy precipitation laden thunderstorms for over a week now.

The East Fork Fire Protection District is establishing a field office at Fire Station 6 on Stephanie Lane where residents can report damages. The district will staff this location from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM this evening. The field office will be open again in the morning at 8:00 AM.

The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners met at the Douglas County EOC and has approved a Disaster Declaration for the affected area.

The declaration will allow the county to call in additional crews to help clear roads, debris removal and repair public infrastructure that continues to be damaged as repeated storms cause flash flooding. The declaration has been forwarded to the State Division of Emergency Management. Depending on the dollar amount of damage to public infrastructure, a State Declaration may be considered as well as a FEMA Declaration.

The most recent flash flood was primarily concentrated in the Stephanie Lane and Johnson Lane areas. East Fork Fire Protection District personnel, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Search and Rescue and Douglas County Road personnel responded immediately and are currently making assessments and cleaning roadways. East Fork Fire Protection District is out helping to deploy sandbags in the Johnson Lane area. Sandbags are available at Fire Station 6 on Stephanie Lane.

County Road crews are currently working to open primary roadway access to the area followed by secondary roadway access clearing. Consideration to secure private contractor assistance will be made on Thursday following further assessment and once water flows have slowed.

The County will be working with the state damage assessment teams to determine the amount of damage to public infrastructure as well as attempting to determine private property damage following state and FEMA damage assessment criteria. The County hopes to have this report completed as soon as possible.

The National Weather Service issues appropriate warnings from their radar system and the Emergency Broadcast System. If Douglas County needed to issue evacuation notices the Emergency Alert System would be activated. Tentative weather forecasts indicate that additional thunderstorms are forecasted for the next several days. Residents in flood prone areas are encouraged to monitor the daily forecasts.

If you think your well head has gone below the level of the water and contaminated your well site, please contact:

Nevada State Health Laboratories
1660 North Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89503
(775) 688-1335

Should any resident have issues with sewer contamination or septic system exposure, please contact the Douglas County Building Department, Valerie Nunes at (775) 782- 6222.

Debris sites have not been currently established. If debris sites are established the information will be released on social media at douglascountynv.gov and via press release or public notice at the field office.