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By Aliss Higham
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The world-famous Las Vegas Strip has been left flooded after a fast-moving storm tore through the city on Wednesday. New videos show water flowing down the deserted Las Vegas Boulevard as heavy rainfall quickly turned to flash-flooding in the aftermath of tropical depression Harold.
The storm began late on Wednesday evening, with the National Weather Service (NWS) station in Las Vegas warning of "isolated flash flooding, lightning, and strong outflow winds."
Footage from Las Vegas posted on social media showed cars attempting to make their way through the waterlogged roads.
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Posting on X, formerly Twitter, user @LasVegasLocally shared footage taken by a person driving through water with the road surface no longer visible. They urged their followers to "Avoid driving for a few minutes".
Another post by @VegasIssues showed a clip of rapidly flowing floodwaters along the empty boulevard, accompanied by the comment "Vegas Strip is currently a river."
According to the same account, ceilings at Harrah's Hotel & Casino were damaged by heavy rainfall. Resort-casino operators Caesars Entertainment confirmed to Newsweek "some ceiling tiles at Harrah's Las Vegas were damaged, but the roof did not collapse, and only minor repairs will be necessary. They should be completed shortly and will not impact our guests."
Newsweek has contacted Clark County Fire Department for an update on the floods in the area.
The dramatic deluges have caused havoc across Las Vegas and Nevada. The city's Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Newsweek it had responded to reports of people stuck in drainage channels. They said: "On August 23, 2023, starting at approximately 8:56 p.m., the LVMPD received multiple reports of individuals caught in drainage channels during heavy rain. We responded to these reports to assist the Clark County Fire Department."
Outside of the city, Mt. Charleston and parts of the Las Vegas Valley suffered major damage throughout tropical storm Hilary over the weekend. Rushing floodwaters seriously damaged roads in and out of the area, with hundreds of residents left trapped. George Gonzales, Mt. Charleston Fire Chief, said in a press briefing on August 21 that "this is the worst flooding incident I have seen up here."
Rain has been heavy recently in the usually dry areas of Nevada and California. On August 20, in nearby Death Valley, California, the National Weather Service said it measured an all-time wettest day on record. Writing on Facebook, the weather service said it "observed 2.20" of precipitation at the official gauge near Furnace Creek. This breaks the previous all time wettest day record of 1.70", which was set on August 5, 2022." During the summer, Death Valley is thought to be the hottest place on earth.
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