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Neighbors in southwest Las Vegas worried about roads flooding during monsoon season

Residents say poor road design to blame
Posted at 11:40 PM, Jul 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-19 10:23:58-04
With another round of storms expected to hit the Las Vegas area on Wednesday and Thursday, neighbors in one southwest neighborhood aren’t sure they can handle any more water.
 
"This can't happen all the time, something has got to be done," Robert Bocellari said.
 
This after the neighborhood near Blue Diamond Road and Jones Boulevard was underwater as a half inch of rain dropped in the area in a two-hour period Monday.
 
"The mud you see on our street did not come from our street.  It came out of that pipe," William Shea said.
 
Shea is talking about a drainage pipe that ends just feet from the community park.
 
The park seems as if it was designed to handle runoff, but Shea said not the amount it was flooded with Monday.
 
"They obviously built it for that purpose, because you can see the curbing," Shea said.
 
So much water was flowing through the park; it eventually covered an entire street. 
 
"It was like a river coming right down," Bocellari said.
 
The water left an unmistakable trail of damage.
 
"When it is so much water that it lifts the trees up out of the ground and knocks them down, that's when you have to lean toward, who do I have to talk to now?" Shea said.
 
In previous storms, Shea says the water has slowly flowed through leaving a minor, but gross mess behind.
 
"We usually have a thousand to two thousand cigarette butts,” Shea said. "We've even seen condoms float down the street in a rainstorm, which is pretty gross."
 
But those who live in the neighborhood say the damage from Monday’s storm was the breaking point.
 
"We need the county or NDOT to step up and create a dialog about removing this drainage. This is not okay.  This is about $20,000 in damage," Shea said.
 
It may not be that simple, because several entities could be responsible for the rain runoff.
 
The property in the area falls under Clark County’s jurisdiction.
 
A spokesperson said they will look into the neighbors’ complaints, but it is unclear who is responsible for the drainage.
 
That’s because the Regional Flood Control District manages drainage projects all over the county, and the pipe in question is part of an overpass for an NDOT managed highway.
 
The county said they will work to see what can be done to alleviate the community’s concerns.l