HELENA — What a wet, weekend storm. Several towns in Montana, including Helena, Great Falls and Bozeman, had a record amount of precipitation. Most of Montana saw between 1 and 2 and a half inches of rain, with some spots getting more than 3 inches of rain, and the storm is not quite over with yet, so precipitation totals could still increase.

Steady to heavy rain fell across the state seemingly all weekend long, creating areas of minor flooding, making for tough travel conditions on the roads, and really limiting outdoor activities. If you, your kids, and or your pets went a little stir crazy, it might be nice to know that a storm like that does not come around too often.

In fact, with storm totals of 1-3″ of rain over the course of 2-3 days, the frequency of a storm like that is between about 2 to every 5 years. storms are described by their recurrence interval or return period, which is the average time between events of that size. For those who make wagers out there, a storm like this has about a 20% chance of happening any given year. This does not mean a storm like this will happen every 5 years. It’s possible it could happen every 2 years, or 10 years apart, or twice in a row, even.

Over 20 years, you could expect a storm like that about 4 times, but the actual number could vary. A one-in-5-year storm is relatively common but still a significant weather event that probably won’t happen again for a little while.

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Though the future standalone children’s hospital in the Las Vegas Valley will not be completed until 2030, the new president of Nevada Children’s Hospital explains why the work to recruit hundreds of doctors begins now– and takes years.

FOX5 exclusively sat down with Russ Williams, the new president of Nevada Children’s Hospital for Intermountain Children’s Health.

Though Williams has been in the Las Vegas Valley for around eight weeks, he’s heard numerous stories from doctors and families of the lengths they travel to obtain care.

According to research firm Applied Analysis, 29,000 children must travel out of state annually for health care; Nevada ranks 48th in the nation for pediatricians per capita, according to the Intermountain Foundation.

“It should be very rare in a city the size of Las Vegas that a child should ever have to leave for care-and we are building a children’s health care destination,” Williams said. “We actually are bringing services to the market right now-anything we can do to provide care as close to home as possible, and then provide that full service, full coordinated care,” he said.

The new hospital will require 200 doctors and a total of 2,000 staff members with a variety of specialties, and recruiting has already begun, in order of focus (subject to change):

• Neurosurgery, Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopedics & Rehab; Hematology/Oncology, General Surgery (2025-2030+)
• Psychiatry, Endocrinology, ENT, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Anesthesia (2026-2030+)
• Infectious Disease, CV Surgery, Pulmonology, Emergency Medicine, Hospital Medicine, Intensivists, Neonatology (2027-2030+)
• Genetics, Plastic Surgery, and continued Emergency Medicine, Hospitalists, Intensivists and Neonatology (2028-2030+)
• Palliative Care, Ophthalmology, Sleep Medicine, Urology, Allergy & Immunology, Derm, Dental, Rheumatology, other (2029-2030+)

Pediatricians and doctors across the Las Vegas Valley weighed in: what specialists do most children need, right now?

“There are some subspecialties where there are virtually nobody in market, and then there are some where we have wonderful subspecialists– we just need two or three more of them,” he said.

“We have heard from the general pediatricians of where they have some of the bigger challenges of getting patients in, in a timely manner- and so these are the areas where we’re actively recruiting: child psychiatry, pediatric rheumatology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric neurology, pediatric pulmonary, and pediatric genetics. And then we actually were this close to onboarding a geneticist as well–again, so that the children that are here get that care without having to go anywhere,” Williams said.

While new building space is being built for new providers and services, such as the 90,000 square-foot Badura Clinic set to open on July 30, other hospitals are stepping up with partnerships.

“Dignity has reached out to us as a place where they would welcome our subspecialists to practice, knowing full well that we’re going to build a beautiful hospital and they’ll, you know, move over to that at the point in time. We’ve really been pretty broadly embraced by the community so that we can appropriately deliver as much of the care right now, pre-hospital, and then build to the moment when we can cut the ribbon and start seeing children in the new hospital,” he said.

New Mexico state lawmakers held the first meeting of their Epstein “Truth Commission” on Monday, launching a formal investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch and its potential use for criminal activity, human trafficking, and sexual abuse.

The four-person commission’s meeting lasted less than an hour but served as an opportunity for lawmakers to outline their plan and goals — and for Epstein survivors to have their voices heard.

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The only known Epstein survivor living in New Mexico, identified only as Rachel, spoke about her experiences. Lawmakers also heard from the family of the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an Epstein victim who died by suicide in April of last year. Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law told the commission that Giuffre had repeatedly described being abused at Zorro Ranch, and that she paid the price for systems that for so long did not believe survivors.

“Virginia was not only abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said. “She was trafficked to extremely wealthy, powerful and dangerous individuals. Some of that trafficking happened right here in New Mexico at Zorro Ranch. That is not speculation. That is not rumor. That is testimony. And New Mexico now stands at crossroads. This state can either repeat the failures we have already witnessed across institutions and protected power over people. Or New Mexico can lead.”

Federal investigations into Epstein were conducted in Florida and New York, but no federal probe was launched in New Mexico. Giuffre’s family addressed that gap directly, expressing hope that a meaningful separation between state and federal government could benefit survivors. They said that when an Epstein survivor feels the federal government has wronged them, the state government should be able to step in and conduct its own investigation — and they hope something meaningful can come from this probe.

The commission left Monday’s meeting with 14 subpoenas. The subpoenas are not directed at specific individuals but target the Epstein Estate, as well as banks and other entities tied to Epstein or related investigations.

State Rep. Andrea Reeb, one of the lawmakers on the commission, told Scripps News there is a possibility they will need more resources before a final report can be completed. The commission faces a deadline of July 31 to produce an interim report, with a final report scheduled for later this year.

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Reeb said she is prepared to name names if she believes someone is involved, and that the commission is prepared to refer additional survivors to the Department of Justice at any time they come forward, in case they want to pursue legal action. The commission also said it will issue formal referrals to the state of New Mexico, Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other relevant international jurisdictions.

The commission said it is also prepared to make full legislative recommendations. At the time Epstein lived in New Mexico, he was not required to register as a convicted sex offender — and that law remains on the books today. The commission believes targeted changes to that law could make a significant difference.