Heavy rains turn streets into rivers

A torrential rainstorm swept through the Las Vegas Valley today, unofficially dropping 3 inches of rain in the first hour, collapsing roofs, stranding motorists at flooded intersections and overwhelming emergency services.

An official at the National Weather Service at McCarran International Airport said the storm has the potential to cause the worst flooding of the decade. Las Vegas city officials were to hold a press conference this afternoon to announce a state of emergency.

"It could be the worst storm in the last 10 to a dozen years," said Ron McQueen, warning coordinator meteorologist for the National Weather Service at McCarran International Airport. Flood watches were in effect for Southern Nevada, Arizona and California through 9 p.m.

Officially, at the airport, 1.05 inches of rain fell in the first hour of the storm that began there at about 11 a.m. Dangerous weather conditions, including lightning, closed McCarran from 11:15 a.m. to 12:06, an airport official said, noting that at least two flights were diverted to Los Angeles.

More rain was expected through Friday, with a chance of thunderstorms through the weekend.

During the first hour of the storm, Metro Police responded to reported roof collapses at a Lucky grocery store at at 2550 S. Fort Apache Road and at a business along Eastern Avenue. Citibank Credit Card Center on West Sahara Avenue was flooded and evacuated.

There were swift water rescues reported at at least three locations: Lake Mead Boulevard and Rock Springs Drive; Arville Street and Harmon Avenue; and Boulder Highway at Desert Inn Road.

The Las Vegas Fire Department is asking the public not to use the 9-1-1 emergency number unless it is a matter of life and death or a fire or similar emergency.

"It's not for home flooding," said a department spokesman.

Nevada Power Co. reported shortly after noon that 1,600 customers, most of them residential, were without power because of the weather.

The areas affected included Flamingo Road and Paradise Road to Topaz Street near the Strip and Bonanza Road to Washington Avenue and Nellis Boulevard to Owens Avenue in the northwest. In the far northwest, there were isolated outages in the Centennial Parkway area.

Even as reports of the flooding in northwest Las Vegas reached City Hall downtown, the 10th floor offices of the mayor and City Council members began to take on water.

Mayor Oscar Goodman's weekly press conference was interrupted with news his office had flooded.

"God's punishing me," the former mob attorney joked.

But the water was no laughing matter elsewhere in City Hall where buckets and trash cans became drip collectors and some floors were darkened due to shorted out lights.

Councilman Michael McDonald pointed out the still-leaking windows to his office at the two-story-deep pit dug for the Neonopolis entertainment retail center parking garage.

"It looks like we have another municipal swimming pool," McDonald said, watching water pour into the hole from street level.

The Las Vegas Fire Department reported a number of road closures, including Desert Inn Road and Durango Drive and the Charleston Boulevard underpass at Interstate 15. U.S. 95 and I-15 were reduced to one open lane in some areas. Several onramps to both arteries were shutdown, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Also closed were Pinto Lane at Desert Lane and at Martin Luther King Boulevard. Commerce Street, in the area of Utah Street and Wyoming Avenue, also was closed.

The scene was the same throughout the valley: at least three cars abandoned along flooded Meadows Lane near the Meadows Mall, a Citizen's Area Transit Bus caught in rising flood waters at U.S. 95 and Jones Boulevard and 4 feet of flood water at Tropicana Avenue stranding numerous vehicles.

The storm system is part of the annual monsoon season that starts in mid-July and continues for two months with fierce summer thunderstorms and flooding to the parched desert valley.

The monsoon season is sparked by a flow of warm, moist air from Mexico which then collides with a high-pressure ridge over the Rocky Mountains and a low-pressure system over Southern Nevada. When the the three air masses run into each other, thunderstorms inundate the Las Vegas Valley.

Unofficially, more than 3 inches of rain fell in the area of Pecos Road and Wigwam Avenue and another 3-plus inches was recorded at the Blue Diamond Wash near Red Rock Canyon -- the first area to record rainfall.

A little north of Red Rock, 2.5 inches was recorded. The Bureau of Land Management closed the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area visitors center and scenic loop because of flash flooding.

BLM spokesman Phillip Guerrero said Red Rock and State Route 159 that passes through the canyon was flooded, as was the visitor's center, which is in the midst of a renovation project.

In Henderson, along Stephanie Road, an inch to 1.5 inches fell in the first hour of the storm.

A number of Henderson streets were impassable shortly before noon, including several intersections along Warm Springs Road at Pecos Road, Arroyo Grande Boulevard, Emden Drive and Major Avenue.

Also impassable were Major at Westminster Avenue and Westminster at Burkholder Boulevard.

Gibson Road and American Pacific Road also were flooded, as were Sunset Avenue at Valle Verde Drive and Valle Verde at Arroyo Grande. Also, Lake Mead Drive at Ash Street.

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Sun reporter Erin Neff and Mary Manning contributed to this report.

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