U.S. News
Las Vegas strip, casinos, airport under water after flooding [Video]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Las Vegas was hit by a rare thunderstorm Thursday night, prompting flash flood warnings.
- Several casinos, airports, and the entire Las Vegas Strip were flooded.
- Las Vegas is one of the country’s driest cities and usually experiences 4 inches of rain a year.
Airports, parking lots, and the entire Las Vegas Strip, which houses some of the world’s most famous casinos and hotels, were flooded Thursday night.
Heavy rain filled countless buildings as the city put a flash flood and severe thunderstorm warning in place.
Video footage shared on Twitter shows the streets of Sin City consumed with floodwater. Other videos showed downtown streets turning into small rivers and water pouring into casinos.
There are no injuries reported at this time, Las Vegas Fire Information Officer, Tim Szymanski, said.
Other videos posted on social media showed the inside of Circa sportsbook bursting with floodwater and soaking the carpet.
Another clip shared online shows water pouring through a hole in the ceiling of Planet Hollywood Casino located on Las Vegas Blvd. Staffers can be seen recording the chaotic scenes on their cell phones.
The iconic Caesar’s Palace was also affected by floodwater, as a video posted online showed the ceiling unable to contain the water, which subsequently poured onto the carpets.
Simon Jowitt, an economic geologist and professor at the University of Las Vegas, told The New York Post that while flash floods don’t happen too often, Nevadians do anticipate monsoon season from July to September.
“We’ve got good drainage systems but sometimes the water just overloads them,” Jowitt said. “It can also be dangerous for homeless people who sometimes live in the drainage systems for shelter.”
“The other thing is that we don’t often get rain so it’s hard to check whether roofs and the like are actually waterproof; probably what has happened in the casinos tonight,” he added. “These rains don’t happen that often, but we’ve had a few days in a row now.”
Elsewhere, local airports are experiencing severe delays as a result of the flood. Earlier on Thursday, planes scheduled to fly to Las Vegas were being held at their starting airports until at least 11 p.m.
Las Vegas is one of the driest major cities in the US and has a dry climate all year round.
Source: Insider
CPO Bill
July 30, 2022 at 6:49 pm
Better call NOAH!
Leslie
July 30, 2022 at 7:31 pm
WTF. Guess the parking garage is cleaned out! All that trash, plastic bottles, washing out into the streets, disgusting! Why do humans not clean up after themselves?
The messes left behind after concerts, the messes left behind on the beaches after spring break assholes!
Human’s are the only animals that trash the earth, so “NOT” superior beings!!
franklin archambault
July 30, 2022 at 7:33 pm
Haven’t been to Los wages for years and I hope it will survive
Bob Nelson
July 30, 2022 at 8:03 pm
Well, one good thing that might come out of it, it might help Lake Mead!
Vic
July 30, 2022 at 8:30 pm
Note for upcoming flooded parking areas: Step carefully as you go to powerful electrical outlets to plug in or unplug those electric cars.. .. Standing in shin high water could be the last thing you remember doing, and Biden and Buttigieg DO NOT CARE!
Patty
July 30, 2022 at 8:50 pm
I lived in Vegas from 1968 until 1979, we had a really bad flood I think in 1977 or thereabouts. I worked at caesar’s Palace and water was flowing into the casino from the north entrance. The flood flowed down from the spring mountains, which had several days of rain, the day of the flood, we had NO rain! A lot of people lost their vehicles that were parked in the north parking lot. Very scary! My sympathies go out to everyone impacted by this flood.