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Swamped town bails as far West goes dark

FERNLEY, Nev. - Hundreds of homes sat in as much as 8 feet of water Sunday following a canal rupture, as freezing weather spread sheets of ice over yards and streets, hindering efforts to drain the water.

As many as 400 homes were damaged when the canal's bank gave way following heavy rainfall produced by the West Coast storm system that had piled snow as much as 11 feet deep in the Sierra Nevada.

The irrigation canal failure released a wave of frigid water into the town early Saturday.

The canal was temporarily repaired late Saturday, but as much as a square mile of the town was still under water at least 2 feet deep Sunday.

Lyon County Fire Division Chief Scott Huntley estimated 1,500 people had been displaced. No injuries were reported in the town of 20,000.

The winter storm shut off power to hundreds of thousands of customers in California, Oregon and Washington. The storm ripped down nearly 500 miles of power lines in California, and many people could remain in the dark for days, utility officials said Sunday.

Six snowmobilers and two skiers were missing in heavy snow in the mountains of southern Colorado, and one hiker was missing in snow-covered mountains in Southern California, officials said.

The storm was blamed for two deaths in California and one in Oregon, police said.

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 00:18:11]