Summer storm thrashes Vegas

A severe electrical storm swept through the Las Vegas Valley today, dumping several inches of rain and causing power outages, road closures, fires and at least one death, officials said.

Two disasters within five hours struck the Palace Station hotel-casino, as the roof caved in, sending a beam smashing into gaming tables. At about dawn, the wooden facade on the tower caught fire. Both the casino and hotel were evacuated during the incidents.

A man suffering a heart attack while trapped in his car in high waters near Charleston Boulevard and Main Street was rescued around 3 a.m. by fire fighters who were patrolling the area looking for stranded motorists.

A spokesperson for the University Medical Center said the heart attack victim did not survive. The man's identity is being withheld pending notification of relatives.

Numerous highway accidents and road closures were attributed to the heavy rain from the storm that began around midnight, knocking out power to several areas, including North Las Vegas and Green Valley in Henderson. Some residents called radio stations after 7 a.m. today saying they still were without power.

Fire, believed to have been started by lightning, also damaged the Moulin Rouge around 11:30 p.m. According to a Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman, there was only minor damage to a tall tower section of the building. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Around 7 a.m. the Clark County Fire Department made a swift-water rescue of a woman who clung to reeds in the wash near Sam Boyd Stadium off Tropicana Avenue, where her vehicle had become trapped in raging flood waters.

"She was very lucky -- she could have been swept all the way to Lake Mead," said Steve La-Sky, spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department. "She was taken to a local hospital in good condition."

The woman, whose name was not released, was thought to have been trapped there for two hours. Another motorist, also trapped in the same flood, heard the woman screaming for help and called the fire department.

Also, police were in the process early today of pulling two cars from beneath flood waters at the Charleston Underpass. It was not immediately known whether the cars were abandoned or if there were bodies inside them.

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said numerous people were rescued from flooded vehicles along Charleston Boulevard from Valley View Drive to Eastern Avenue.

National Weather Service spokesman Dave Kosier said a monsoon rain pattern created heavy rains and wind gusts at McCarran International Airport of 54 mph. Continuous lightning lit up the valley skies throughout the storm.

Kosier said rain was concentrated on the west side of Las Vegas, in the area from Decatur Boulevard to Interstate 15 south of Charleston Boulevard.

At the weather service headquarters on Industrial Road 1.43 inches fell and a little more than 0.3-inches fell at McCarran airport. Those are official totals.

Unofficially, the heaviest rain fell on the Interstate-15 corridor. Totals ranging from 1.38 inches to 1.67 inches fell from Sahara Avenue exit to Blue Diamond.

The highest unofficial rainfall was at the Flamingo Wash and Decatur where 3.27 inches of precipitation was recorded. Weather officials said 2.68 inches of it fell in a two-hour period.

North Las Vegas unofficially got 0.33 to 0.80 inches of rain, where as Northwest Las Vegas got only about 0.10 of an inch. Henderson got 0.25-0.50 of an inch, officials said.

A flash flood warning was lifted early today.

Mudslides occurred on Interstate-15 at Russell Road and on Boulder Highway at U. S. 95. Traffic was reduced to one lane on I-15. Boulder Highway was closed.

Traffic lights went out throughout the valley during the storm and still were not working during the morning rush hour.

Numerous roads in and around the areas of Desert Inn Road, Tropicana Avenue, Eastern Avenue and Flamingo Road were closed because of flooding. Trees were uprooted by the force of the storm.

At Lake Mead, officials reported 70-mile-per-hour winds. A spokesman for the Lake Mead National Park Rangers reported that the high winds damaged docks at Temple Bar, Heaven Way and Callville.

The Nevada Power Company reported thousands of customers at locations around the valley were without power, but no exact number was available.

"We have 12 crews out restoring power as quickly as possible," said a company spokesperson.

Most of the power outages were caused by trees hitting power lines, according to officials. Getting the power restored was hampered by street flooding.

Las Vegas Valley weather tied a record late Saturday and early Sunday for the highest lowest overnight temperature, according to a spokesman for the National Weather Service.

"Our low only reached 91 degrees," Scott Cordero of the NWS said.

That highest low temperature was first reached in 1989.

As thunderstorms moved up from the Mohave County area in Arizona, searing temperatures in Las Vegas began to drop off -- but continued to remain above normal during the day.

It had cooled to 99 degrees shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, from a high at McCarran International Airport of 109. Normal for this time of year is 106.

Chances of rain are in the forecast for most of the week, according to Cordero.

The thunderstorms rolling in out of the south contained lightning and some hail.

Lightning was blamed for a grass fire in the Spring Mountain area between Las Vegas and Pahrump.

Thunderstorms, strong gusty winds and high humidity combined to keep the temperatures from setting records over the weekend.

"An increase in humidity doesn't allow temperatures to get so hot," Cordero said.

But hot it was.

Thursday's 116 degree reading was one degree shy of an all-time high of 117 degrees set July 24, 1942.

Friday the temperature at the airport reached 114 and Saturday it was 113.

Today's forecast calls for the weather to be mostly sunny in the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures are expected to reach 109 degrees.

The high at the airport is expected to remain around 109 degrees, with a continued chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms each day through Thursday.

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