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Lake Tahoe Unified School District cancels classes Monday

Ryan Hoffman rhoffman@tahoedailytribune.com
Flooding is starting to occur in South Lake Tahoe.
City of South Lake Tahoe

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.

All schools in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District will be closed Monday due to localized flooding and continued hazardous weather.

The district posted the announcement on its website. Updates on school closures in the district can be found here.

Additionally, Lake Tahoe Community College will be closed Monday due to inclement weather and concerns over student and staff safety, the college announced Sunday. The college will post updates about possible cancellations on Tuesday as soon as possible.

UPDATE 6:30 p.m.

An emergency evacuation center has been relocated from the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Swim Complex to South Tahoe High School, located at 1735 Lake Tahoe Blvd.

The change is due to flooding at the city’s rec center, according to South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry.

The city is not going to do a reverse 911 to residents in effected areas, but the opportunity to relocate to the shelter is still open to all residents, particularly those on state streets and the Tahoe Keys, which will be prone to flooding through the night.

UPDATE 5:30 p.m.

Emergency evacuation centers in South Lake Tahoe are now open as rain continues to drench the Tahoe Basin.

The city announced shortly after 5 p.m. that it was opening a Red Cross emergency evacuation center at the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Swim Complex located at 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd. That came several hours after the city opened an emergency operations center at the Lake Tahoe Airport, located at 1901 Airport Road, due to water levels.

Flooding is occurring on roads around South Lake Tahoe, including near the Knight’s Inn and the intersection of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Ski Run Boulevard. Lake Tahoe Boulevard at Sawmill Road remains closed due to flooding.

Sand is still available at the city yard ,located at 1160 Rufus Allen Blvd., and Fire Station 3 at 2101 Lake Tahoe Blvd. People must fill the sandbags themselves.

According to the city, the Truckee River is at 10.5 inches — ½ inch shy of the flood stage.

“We anticipate the need to evacuate the state streets and potentially [the] Tahoe Keys area. … “We are deploying resources into those areas now to evaluate conditions and evacuation at this point is precautionary, not required,” South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry said in an email to members of the media.

UPDATE 1 p.m.

According to Liberty Utilities, all of the West Shore from Meeks Bay Avenue to the greater Tahoe City region is without power and will likely remain so for much of Sunday.

The outage is the result of fallen trees that have downed three strands of wire. Highway 89 is down to one lane in order for Liberty crews to safely make repairs. The estimated restoration is 9 p.m. Sunday.

Liberty asks that customers visit its website for updates. Liberty’s call center will not have the latest information.

UPDATE

Citing safety concerns resulting from the ongoing storm, South Shore ski resorts have closed for the day, and reports of flooding in the region continue to be shared via social media.

Heavenly Mountain Resort tweeted Sunday morning that “high winds, weather challenges and an incoming dynamic system” had closed the mountain for the day. Kirkwood Mountain also tweeted that it was closed, as did Sierra-at-Tahoe, which stated that employee and guest safety was its primary concern.

Sierra-at-Tahoe said it would reopen Monday after assessing conditions and mountain safety.

Sunday afternoon the city of South Lake reported that Lake Tahoe Boulevard is closed at Sawmill Road, and all traffic on the boulevard must turn left at the Y.

Liberty Utilities reported just after noon that it is experiencing outages in the Tahoe City, Truckee, the West Shore and the Interstate 80 (Truckee River) corridor due to multiple power lines being tripped. According to Liberty, additional problems are expected as wind and rain continue to increase. About 150 customers were impacted at that time.

“We have re-opened our emergency operations center and called all crews in who will patrol the lines looking for problems,” read a statement from Liberty. “Priority has shifted from individual service repair to transmission line restoration.”

Meanwhile in Nevada, Douglas County declared a state of emergency Saturday in preparation for flooding expected to arrive on Sunday.

In South Lake Tahoe, more residents took to social media Sunday morning to post about rising flood waters.

ORIGINAL

A flood watch remains in effect as the Tahoe Basin continues to brace for heavy flooding amid constant rainfall.

Rain relentlessly pelted the region Saturday and more is expected through Sunday. As of midnight, the Lake Tahoe Airport on the South Shore recorded .73 inches of precipitation within a 24-hour period.

There were reports of flooding in Tahoe Keys and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue tweeted about helping an elderly resident with minor flooding in her garage around 3 p.m. Saturday.

The National Weather Service in Reno continues to forecast more rain, with 6 to 12 inches expected around the Tahoe Basin through the duration of the storm.

This recent storm follows one that dropped several feet of snow at lake level and as more than 5 feet of snow in the high country — a similar situation to that in 1997 when the region experienced serious floods.

However, forecasters told the Tribune that this recent storm would more likely mirror the floods of 2005 than 1997.


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