This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Heavy rains on Monday near where Utah, Arizona and Nevada meet closed Interstate 15 south of St. George.
All routes from southern Utah to Las Vegas were closed as of Monday night, the Utah Department of Transportation reported. It wasn't clear when the freeway would reopen.
Flooding in the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona and the town of Moapa, Nev., damaged I-15 and forced the highway's closure just north of the Utah border, reported officials from UDOT and the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, flooding forced the closure of State Road 8 in Ivins and at Utah Hill west of St. George, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce.
In Nevada, 190 people from an Indian reservation were evacuated Monday and officials feared riverbanks could overflow after 4 inches of rain fell in a two-hour period in Moapa, northeast of Las Vegas. Authorities were keeping an eye on the Virgin River, which was at 9 feet and floods at 11 feet.
Tribal police warned that the waters of the Muddy River, which feeds the Virgin River, were close to breaching a dam on the Moapa River Reservation.
The storms are remnants of Hurricane Norbert, which pushed into the desert Southwest and swamped Phoenix with record rainfall for a single day. The Phoenix freeways became submerged after pumping stations could not keep up with the downpour, the Arizona Department of Transportation said. Sections of Interstates 10 and 17 were closed most of the day.
Steady rain was expected to continue throughout the night from Utah's southern border up into the state's central mountains, said NWS meteorologist Mike Conger. A flash flood watch was in effect until Tuesday afternoon.
Brief but intense thunderstorms caused only minor street flooding in northern Utah, Conger said. More showers were expected early Tuesday.
The Associated Press Contributed to this report.