Southside residents begin cleaning up after flood

The southside neighborhood was getting help from volunteers, though many residents have not yet returned their homes.

David Hollinger from Linkan Engineering and Construction was helping owners of flooded homes get water of their basements.

Hollinger said few people in the neighborhood had water removal equipment on hand.

“We’re normally a water treatment firm but we’re out here because nobody has pumps,” he said. “We came out yesterday morning around 8 o’clock and we’ll keep working in the neighborhood along with authorities.”

There were also some volunteers working alongside Linkan Engineering to rid homes of water. Although the City had not authorized them to be there, the group said they have been allowed to continue their work because they have the permission of the property owners.

One property owner that was having a difficult time dealing with the flood was John Kraintz. Kraintz is a pastor at the Elko Assembly of God church and spent most of his day on Tuesday cleaning out the church’s basement, which still had about a half foot of standing water.

For now services will be moved elsewhere but he was thankful he did not completely lose the church and is happy to have the help of volunteers.

“There were a lot of the different men in the neighborhood who helped move out a lot of the big stuff,” he said. “We’ll come in again tomorrow and start cleaning up more. We appreciate Linkan Engineering. They came in and said we were still good structurally.”

Michael Villegas also spent a good portion of his day clearing out his house. Water began getting into Villegas’ house on Friday night. He then began pulling electronics and other valuables out of the house, and returned earlier this week to throw out the items he could not save.

Villegas is staying at a friend’s house and is not sure when he will be able to move back into his home. He was also thankful for the help he received from volunteers who helped him transport his electronics and furniture.

“When we starting to pull all our appliances out, we didn’t have a vehicle to get stuff out,” he said. “It was really nice to know our community can be a big help when we need it.”

The City has set up dumpsters on Front Street and on South Second, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth streets for people to dispose of damaged property.

The City’s building department is coordinating the restoration of electric and gas service with NV Energy and Southwest Gas, which can only be done after inspections have taken place.

A Red Cross center has been set up at 725 Railroad St. to assist residents with emergency needs.

“Homeowners, tenants, and/or landlords should contact their insurance carrier for guidance,” stated a release from the City.

Those wanting to volunteer their help should call 777-7320.

The City’s emergency operations center will remain open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until further notice.