A canal levee broke early Saturday in Nevada after heavy rainfall, pouring more than a meter of nearly freezing water into 800 homes and stranding 3,500 people.

A section of the Truckee Canal long as 15 meters ruptured around 4 a.m. in Fernley, about 50 kilometers east of Reno, officials reported.

An estimated 1,500 people ended up being displaced from their homes and as many as 3,500 people were temporarily stranded. A number of 25 people remained at a shelter set up at a high school. There were no reports of any injuries so far.

“We’re still rescuing folks and getting people to shelter safely. I’m hoping the brunt of this is over. We sort of have some control today because it’s not raining,” said Chuck Allen of the Nevada Department of Public Safety, according to local media sources.
Lyon County Fire Chief Scott Huntley was one of the first on the scene after the break of the canal.

“We had a 50-foot wall of water about 2 feet high going down Farm District Road. In some places folks had to deal with 8 feet of water. Firefighters were in chest-deep water making rescues,” Huntley said.

“Garbage cans and pieces of wood were floating down the street. We saw water coming in the back door and tried to grab as much stuff as possible to save it. The water was rising very quickly and it was scary. The water was freezing. I couldn't even feel my feet,” said resident Eric Cornett for the Los Angeles Times.

Heavy snow covered the Northern California Mountains and rain and wind hit the West Coast as a third day of winter storms. Gov. Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency in Lyon County and said federal officials were sending emergency supplies to the affected areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency planned to conduct a damage assessment on Monday.

The canal was carrying about 700 cubic feet per second at the time of the breach, but Dave Overvold, project manager for the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District said that the water had doubled its volume in recent weeks. Normally, the canal can move 1,000 cubic feet of water per second.

By afternoon, the Truckee River water flowing into the canal was diverted upstream, said Ernie Schank, president of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler said there were reported at least 300 to 400 homes damaged as the water receded.

Up to 112 centimeters of snow had fallen in some parts of the Sierra Nevada range, the National Weather Service said Saturday morning. Moreover, thousands of people in three states from California to Washington were left without power.