LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A wicked windstorm Friday – compliments of Hurricane Hilary – bore down on Las Vegas Boat Harbor at Lake Mead, destroying the walkways and docks connecting the hundreds of boats tied to the moorings.
“It did a generational amount of damage to our marina,” Bruce Nelson, the marina’s director of operations, said.
Crews came out during the storm to secure the concrete anchors that hold down the floating marina. But as soon as one thing broke, Nelson said, other infrastructure followed.
“A lot of stuff broke,” Nelson said. The dock’s walkway and sub-arms sustained damage, as did some boats, but most of the boats survived unscathed.
“Now we’re going into repair mode,” Nelson said. “So, we pick a section, we pick the worst areas, we start working our way out.”
Boat owners, however, are trying to work their way into the marina. Those who arrived at Lake Mead trying to get to their slips were told it might be a week or two before that happens.
“My boat’s out there in the water, but I cannot get to it, unfortunately,” Jonathan Catalano, owner of a 20-foot speedboat, said.
Catalano took the week off from work to spend on the lake. 8 News Now, during a boat tour given Monday by Las Vegas Boat Harbor, confirmed that Catalano’s boat seems intact.
“We’ll get back out there sooner or later,” Catalano said.
Lake Mead National Park closed Monday in the aftermath of the storm. It will reopen Tuesday. Lake Mead Marina, the marina adjacent to Las Vegas Boat Harbor, sustained little-to-no storm damage and remains open.
