After powerful thunderstorms blew through Las Vegas on Thursday night, flooding surged into local casinos, submerging sections of the renowned Las Vegas Strip.
The same trend that allowed storms with heavy rain and powerful gusts to buffet Las Vegas, according to AccuWeather analysts, will remain throughout most of the Southwest.
Heavy rain in Las Vegas
JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP via Getty Images
On Thursday night, violent thunderstorms blasted over the area, leaving several people stranded or scurrying for shelter.
With the storms that blazed to life on Thursday night, the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas reported wind gusts of up to 70 mph.
On Thursday night, the sky opened up over the Las Vegas metro, and torrential rain transformed streets and walkways along the renowned Las Vegas Strip into raging rivers as flash flooding erupted.
Water levels on popular pathways varied from significant ponding to several inches deep inside the worst flooding on highways.
Eyewitness footage from the tragedy showed automobiles traveling across flooded highways, generating rippling waves of water.
Water also poured into a few prominent casinos. Rain fell on Caesars Palace due to roof leaks, while water flowed from beneath video displays at Circa Resort & Casino. A waterfall also spilled from the roof of Planet Hollywood.
On Thursday night, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue responded to 330 calls for service, many of which were linked to the storm. According to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, at least seven people were rescued from rapid water.
Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas' principal aviation hub, and the city's official weather station lie about 5 miles south of downtown Las Vegas.
In less than two hours, the airport received 0.32 inches of rain from Thursday night's storms. Throughout July, the airport receives around a third of an inch of rain on average.
After monsoonal rain and flash floods put on a water and light show Thursday night that people here will never forget, cleanup was well started, as per The Washington Post.
What began as stifling wind and flashing lightning made its way indoors, with leaky roofs leading to saturated gambling machines and carpeting at various casinos.
Outside, lightning struck numerous downtown hotels, including the Golden Nugget, knocking out electricity to their outside lights.
There were leaking light fixtures at Caesars Palace, a shower inside Planet Hollywood, and floodwaters that turned the Linq hotel's parking lot into a white-water rapids course. One gamer at the Fremont Hotel & Casino continued to play despite the rainfall.
The Las Vegas Weather Service warned of wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour, asking Twitter users to "take shelter quickly!" "Las Vegas Fire & Rescue tweeted that they responded to 330 requests for assistance, the majority of which were weather-related, and rescued seven persons in fast water.
Several junctions were inundated. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, more than 7,000 customers were without power after 10 p.m.
Emi Gross, a burlesque showgirl street performer, was on the Strip when the heavy rains began.
"It became insane," stated the 19-year-old. "I've never worked as a showgirl in such bad weather."
Return to normal after Friday morning
Friday morning, betting activity was virtually back to normal, and casino management were planning changes to deal with future weather disasters.
The Fremont Street Experience exhibit lighted up as people flew by on Slotzilla's zip lines. The sky was entirely cloudless and clear.
Workers construct music stages. The familiar cannabis odor pervaded the extremely humid air.
Large blacked-out chunks from the damage were visible on Circa's displays during a soccer event and a golf competition, with a piece of betting odds and game timings pixelated beyond recognition.
Workers with tape measures ringed the roped-off pit's damaged portions, while a 6-foot fan led a collection of smaller blowers.
Stormwater tends to pool in Las Vegas rather than sinking into the desert landscape, which means that even minor precipitation can cause floods.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman touted "flood control infrastructure" that swiftly transports water to Lake Mead on Friday.
