Flood at Nelsons Landing


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Posted by Harold Ericsson on August 21, 2004 at 15:57:30:

“On 14 September 1974 a flash flood occurred at Nelsons Landing, a small settlement on the shore of Lake Mohave, 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.”

A detailed analysis of the very destructive flash flood at Nelsons Landing can be found in the March 1975 edition of California Geology.

“The flood took nine lives and a restaurant, 5 mobile homes, 23 boats and estimated 38 automobiles, together with 19 boat trailers, were buried in the debris. Remaining on shore were a few mobile homes that were spared, along with 26 that were destroyed, 2 damaged trucks, and the boats which were in a storage area.”

In reading this report I was struck by the speed with which this very destructive storm developed:

“Early on the day of the flood, the weather was clear and warm with no evidence of and impending storm……….At the old mining town of nelson, 7 miles west of Nelsons Landing, a light rainfall began about 1:30 PM…An electric clock at Nelsons Landing stopped at 2:22 PM, about the time some eyewitnesses observed that the main surge of flood water reached the settlement.”
Birdman



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