Las Vegas Flooding Pummels Through Casinos and Strip
Travelers head to Las Vegas all year long for stays in lavish hotels filled with wild entertainment, gambling, and nights they'd probably prefer to forget.
But hundreds of visitors were treated to a truly unique entertainment experience this week when mass flooding hit the Las Vegas Strip, sending cars floating and wreaking havoc when heavy rain poured into the valley on Thursday.
Journalist Chaudhary Parvezposted a video to Twitter of severe flooding taking over a Las Vegas parking garage, with water swiftly moving across the ground and taking objects like a water cooler flying with it.
Another clip showed the Planet Hollywood Hotel getting demolished by rainwater inside the casino.
More videos showed cars losing bumpers and swimming through water on the streets, tires unable to touch the road, and the insides of hotels and casinos getting soaked.
A flash flood warning is still in effect for Vegas and the surrounding area through Monday, according to the National Weather Service, which noted that these weather patterns may continue.
"The active monsoon across the West is expected to continue this weekend with a trajectory from the Four Corners region and Desert Southwest to the central Rockies," the NWS stated. "This rainfall may produce flash flooding and debris flows, especially near recent burn scar areas. Meanwhile, locally heavy rain is likely near the Gulf Coast this weekend from the arrival of a cold front and weak tropical disturbance."
Las Vegas annually receives around 4.2 inches of rain per year, usually spread out around 26 or 27 days. The wettest month tends to be February. So far, summer rainfall in Las Vegas has totaled 1.28 inches, making it the wettest monsoon season since 2012, the NWS said.
Vegas has had no shortage of flooding this summer.
Just two weeks ago, mass flash floods hit the strip, destroying the insides of major casinos and hotels.
The weather appears to be clear going into this weekend, although as visitors and residents alike have learned, the skies could open up at any moment.