Washington, D.C. – Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, along with Congressman Steven Horsford sent a letter in support of Governor Joe Lombardo’s request urging the Biden Administration to issue a Major Disaster Declaration for Nevada in the wake of a series of severe winter storms. 

The storms have resulted in devastating damage across parts of Nevada, causing widespread flooding, rockslides, and landslides that have threatened communities and contributed to more than $10 million in damages to public infrastructure. According to a statement from Cortez Masto’s office, the declaration would provide Nevada with federal resources to protect residents, property, local businesses, tribal communities, and public infrastructure while the state experiences unprecedented flooding.

“Widespread flooding, rockslides, and landslides have threatened communities, and state officials are expecting the impacts of this storm to continue to be felt as temperatures warm and the snowpack begins to melt,” the delegation wrote. “Three counties are being disproportionately impacted by the storms and the subsequent flooding: Eureka County, Lincoln County, and Churchill County. In Eureka County, officials estimated that water was rushing to flood the community at a rate of over 600,000 gallons per minute during the March storm; and, in Churchill County, the Bureau of Reclamation has indicated that 1.1 million acre-feet of water could flood the community as the snowpack melts.”