Las Vegas flooding: Multiple casinos, entire Strip, airport under water amid storm

2022-08-08 07:06:38 By : Mr. Raymond Ye

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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 confirmed to The Post.

Other videos posted on social media showed the inside of Circa sportsbook full of floodwater soaking the carpet.

Another clip shared online shows water pouring through a hole in the ceiling of Planet Hollywood Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard. Staffers can be seen recording the chaotic scenes on their cellphones.

When it rains in #LasVegas! I'm sure glad I got off the highway just before this! It was scary when driving home from dinner, though!! pic.twitter.com/dP58ge85AF

Video I received from an employee working near the sports book at Circa. Clean up after flooding that just occurred. You definitely don’t see this everyday. @8NewsNow #8NN Courtesy: Dan Miller pic.twitter.com/CxmjHH78Rn

The iconic Caesar’s Palace was also affected by floodwater, as a video posted online showed the ceiling unable to contain the water, which poured onto the carpets.

The Post has reached out to Planet Hollywood and Caesar’s Palace for comment, while Circa sportsbook declined to comment.

Alexander Wolf, a Las Vegas resident, told The Post he saw “curtains” of rainfall outside his window.

⁦@News3LV⁩ this is the Linq parking garage on the Strip. pic.twitter.com/lWfKULEAom

“Lightning was nearly constant, and the power went out several times,” he told The Post. “Electric surges set the fire alarms of several buildings off, causing fire responders to have to head out into the storm to respond to them.”

Simon Jowitt, an economic geologist and professor at the University of Las Vegas, told The Post that while flash floods don’t happen too often, Nevadans do anticipate monsoon season from July to September.

A Flash Flood Warning and Sevwre Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for the Las Vegas Valley ⚠️@NWSVegas advises to watch out for: – heaving downpours 🌧 – lightning ⚡️ – strong wind gusts 💨 #VegasWeather pic.twitter.com/1E8JuJlfXV

Round 2 Underway! We just recorded a gust to 48 mph at North Las Vegas Airport – hold on to your hats! #VegasWeather

“We’ve got good drainage systems but sometimes the water just overloads them,” Jowitt, who hails from Las Vegas, told The Post. “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.”

Caught the first panel falling pic.twitter.com/1QEJtFtVbk

Elsewhere, local airports are experiencing severe delays as a result of the flood.

“My flight has been delayed an hour so far and maybe more,” Shondra Kayd, who is experiencing severe delays with her outgoing flight to Toronto, Canada, told The Post. “A lot of planes had to land at different airports.”

Earlier on Thursday, Harry Reid International Airport departure delays were averaging 50 minutes. Planes scheduled to fly to Las Vegas were being held at their starting airports until at least 11 p.m., according to FlightAware.com.