One day after being battered by severe storms that destroyed parking lots, airports, and casinos, Las Vegas is still having a soggy start to the weekend.
The whole Strip, which is home to some of the most renowned casinos and hotels in the world, was inundated on Thursday night as a result of the city issuing a flash flood and severe thunderstorm warning.
And it appears that the city is still in trouble.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, at least 16,000 people were without power in the Las Vegas region on Friday night.
The city was pummelling by rain in the late afternoon and early evening, with the possibility of strong winds, lightning, and possibly even some hail throughout the weekend.
On Friday, a further severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Las Vegas and was in effect until 11 p.m. It was advised that people avoid driving through floodwater.
Henderson, Mesquite, and Boulder City, which are nearby cities of Las Vegas, were all affected by the warning.
Be careful on the roads tonight ?
Tips from @RegionalFlood:
-turn from flooded roadways
-find an alternate route or exercise patience and wait for the flooding to subside@NWSVegas #VegasWeather pic.twitter.com/lqJZPZjEzO— City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) July 30, 2022
The likelihood of more flooding is increased by the forecast, which calls for continued rain starting at noon on Saturday with a brief respite from the extreme weather before the rain returns on Sunday afternoon.
Low 90s are predicted for Saturday’s highs, which is below the 105 normal for this time of year and could last into next week.
On Friday, the mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, jumped on Twitter to express her gratitude for the emergency services’ prompt response to the flooding.
“Thank you to our first responders & Regional Flood Control for keeping residents & visitors safe,” she tweeted. “Las Vegas has beautiful weather, but we do have large storms in monsoon season. Knowing this, we have flood control infrastructure to quickly move water out of the city to Lake Mead.”
The storm on Thursday came very close to matching the year’s total rainfall. Videos posted on social media showed water gushing into Caesars Palace from ceiling light fixtures, cars left stuck and half submerged on the roadway, and lightning lighting through the sky above Sin City.
Caesars Entertainment told The Post that all of its properties in Las Vegas are running normally today, despite some of them suffering minor damage as a result of the storm last night. “Repairs are currently being made, but we don’t anticipate them to have an impact on our guests’ experience.”
According to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, seven people were saved from rapid water during the storm, and one residence caught fire. 22 collisions and 15 outdoor fires were also reported.
A resident in Las Vegas named Alexander Wolf told The Post that he could see “curtains” of raindrops outside his window.
He told The Post that there was practically continual lightning and that there were numerous power outages. Firefighters had to go outside into the storm to respond to multiple buildings’ fire alarms that were set off by electrical surges.
