LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — On a day that is hard to forget for first responders in the Las Vegas Valley, the regional flood control district launched a new virtual reality experience for drivers.
VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE: Car caught in flood
On July 8, 1999, three inches of rain fell in just two hours causing major flooding around the valley and killing two people.
A lot has changed since then and much progress has been made in the past two decades on the county’s master plan to prevent the kind of flooding seen in 1999. The plan is more than 75 percent complete and there are now 100 detention basins spread across the valley. Another 36 will be built.
The county launched a new virtual experience. It’s a 360-degree video that puts you behind the wheel of a car that gets swept away in a flash flood.
Since 1960, more than 30 people have died during a flash flooding in Clark County. About half of those deaths occurred in cars.
Flash flood season is July through September, but of course they can happen at any time during the year without warning.
In the last year, the district says it has spent $73.5 million on 13 projects which include new washes, drains, and channel improvements.
Their main message to residents is to be prepared and never drive through a flooded roadway.
