Troublesome tumbleweeds create chaos

Selwyn Harris/Pahrump Valley Times Tumbleweeds were stacked as high as four feet at Betty Robison's East Mt. Charleston Drive home due to the recent windy conditions throughout the Pahrump Valley. At 90 years-old, Robison said she's not able to clear the mass in both her front yard and back patio.

Selwyn Harris/Pahrump Valley Times Robison said burning the tumbleweeds was not an option due the close proximity to her residence. Robison also said her elderly neighbor's yard is also inundated with the weeds, which blew in from a large field across the street from her home.

Selwyn Harris/Pahrump Valley Times A Local car dealership's Tent Sale in the parking lot of the Pahrump Nugget did not go as planned as the intense winds laid waste to the framework this week.

Pahrump resident Betty Robison was blown away when she peered out the window of her East Mt. Charleston Drive home last week.

Due to the recent gusty conditions throughout the Pahrump Valley, both her front and back yard were awash with Russian Thistle, also commonly known as the tumbleweed.

As Robison, a widow, approaches her 91st birthday come April, she said she doesn’t have the will nor interest in arranging, stacking, and burning the prickly, pesky plants, which rose up to at least four-feet high on her back porch, due to 35-plus mile per hour gusts.

“They come across the street from the large field, and I have no idea how to get them cleaned up,” she said. “If I tried to burn them, it could get out of hand, plus I would have to move them but I can’t do it. I am 90 years old. My son has diabetes and he is in no condition to try to move the weeds off my property. They also blocked my front door, but I was able to move those a few feet away. My next door neighbor is also inundated with them, too. He is an older gentleman, so he wouldn’t be able to get out there and do anything. I would be willing to pay someone to come here and get all of these tumbleweeds off my property.”

Robison moved to Pahrump roughly seven years ago, from Littlerock, California.

She said the geography and terrain of Southern Nevada is very similar to that of her former home, including the tumbleweeds.

“It’s in Los Angeles County, on the high desert, in the Palmdale, Lancaster area and it’s just like here, with the mountains all around,” she recalled. “Before I bought this house, the woman had left a picture here to show me how the front and back yard can get filled up with those things. Since I had gates installed, all of the tumbleweeds get trapped on each side of the house. I will be 91 in April, so that’s a little bit too old to be getting out there trying to move and burn all those tumbleweeds. I just don’t know who to call.”

Fortunately local residents can expect sunny and mild conditions throughout the weekend and into next week, according to the AccuWeather forecast.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes