Speedy recovery! Callville Marina opens tomorrow
Kim Roundtree at Callville Marina on Lake Mead announced power was back on Thursday and boats could begin launching again on Friday after a massive flash flood earlier this week ripped away docks and buildings and caused an estimated one million dollars in damage.

"The whole thing was, okay, get us back into business as fast as possible," said Roundtree, who manages the marina for Forever Resorts. "A lot of our vendors really helped us out and I have to give a big thanks to Temple Bar and Las Vegas Boat Harbor, they have been a big, big help. Temple Bar has this big boat that rip up just about anything."

Roundtree said the public docks on marinas 1 and 2 would be opened up on Saturday. Marina 3 suffered no damage.

Bearing the full brunt of the flash flood down Callville was the corner of docks just to the left of the entrance to the entire dock complex. This housed the boat rental office and docks where the rental boats were tied up.

The damage was caused by two waves of mud and boulders as waters rose with continued downpours. Roundtree said that the public was evacuated early on in the deluge and after the first wave all the employees were sent to the high ground near the Callville Lounge. She and several other employees then tried to salvage some of the rental boats.

"The boats were stuck in the mud, but then the water rose some more and we were able save a few more boats," said Roundtree. "Then it just got worse and worse and we got out of there."

A good move considering the flash flood sent a second wave of debris estimated by observers to be 8 to 10 feet in height. This push ripped up the 12,000 pound anchors holding the docks and buildings.

"There was nothing for us to do but watch," said Laura French, who manages the food concessions at Callville. "It was absolutely amazing, I've never seen anything like it."

"There was 8 to 10 feet of silt that washed into where our buildings were," said Roundtree," and the wave moved the buildings 150 feet where they ended up on 8 to 10 feet of mud and all the telephone poles that had come all the way down the wash."

Luckily, H Dock just past the snack bar (or where the snack bar used to be) held for the entire 3 1/2 hours of the peak of the flood and protected the Forever Resorts houseboats and private boats docked behind as the debris was swept out and around.

There were no injuries as a result of the flood, but, as noted, power was lost until Thursday and only employees and work crews were allowed to stay at the Callville Marina complex. And they got right to work.

"If you would have seen what it looked like here Tuesday morning and what it looks like now, you wouldn't believe it, the crews have worked so hard," said Roundtree. "We have to get rid of the old buildings and rebuild and in the process we're going to move the entire marina out farther into the bay. We're just going to keep on moving out and go from there."

CAPTION:A RIVER OF MUD AND ROCKSrolls past the end of the old Callville Marina launch ramp.

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