Flash Flooding Hits Las Vegas Valley: Three Swift-Water Rescues in Henderson, One Dead
The Las Vegas Valley in Clark County, Nevada, was hit by a fast-moving thunderstorm on the afternoon of October 30, bringing hail and torrential rain that triggered flash flooding and widespread power outages. In Henderson, firefighters made three swift-water rescues and one person died, while Harry Reid International Airport imposed a ground stop for lightning, local outlets reported, citing the City of Henderson, the National Weather Service and several TV stations.
The Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the east side of the valley until 1:45 p.m. and flash flood warnings — until 4 p.m. on the Las Vegas side and 3:45 p.m. for Henderson.
Henderson firefighters responded to three rescues around 1 p.m. In the first, near Lake Mead Parkway and North Pueblo Boulevard, they pulled a person from a drainage wash who then went into cardiac arrest and died after being taken to a hospital. In the second, two people were rescued from a vehicle swept off Lake Mead Parkway east of the Lake Las Vegas entrance. In the third, a driver who had climbed onto the roof of a stalled vehicle near Milan and Drake streets was brought to safety. No one was injured in the latter two rescues.
NV Energy's outage map showed at least 1,620 customers without power around 1:30 p.m., rising above 4,000 by about 1:40 p.m., concentrated in the central valley, and falling to just over 2,000 by about 2:15 p.m. The ground stop at Harry Reid International ran until 3 p.m.; FAA data showed average departure delays of about 15 minutes and arrival delays of about 23 minutes.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), The Strip -- 2012 -- 6232。Dietmar Rabich 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), The Strip -- 2012 -- 6232. By Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
