The Las Vegas strip has suffered severe flooding the second time in a matter of weeks as luxury casino staff struggle to deal with the constant flow of rainwater gushing through doors and ceilings.
Another series of thunderstorms battered Sin City with relentless downpours yesterday causing swathes of flash flooding all over downtown Vegas.
Gambling fans and party-goers inside the strip’s luxury casinos probably hadn’t bet on some of the scenes they witnessed last night unfolding.
Shocking footage uploaded by on-lookers inside the Planet Hollywood casino on the strip showed water breaking through the ceiling and drenching guests below.
The blackjack area resembled a giant water fountain as rainwater waterfalled from the casino’s high ceiling onto card tables.
In other footage, a woman can be heard exclaiming “oh my God, no!” as water sprays through a giant light-up wall inside the iconic Caesar’s Palace gaming floor in a scene like something out of a submarine disaster movie.
Diners in the Caesar’s Palace restaurant were drenched at their tables from the downpour through the roof.
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Outside, the streets looked more like rivers as stranded cars flooded and objects were washed away. One driver can be seen attempting to drive down Vegas’ famous Strip. The water rises to the car’s bumper.
The National Weather Service for Las Vegas issued a flash flood warning until Friday. The warning included the likelihood of high winds and flash flooded and advised residents to avoid flooded streets.
las vegas in flood condition. pic.twitter.com/UH9wRSqcsb
— ahmad usmani (@usmani77) August 12, 2022
“Never have I seen rain this torrential like I saw this evening,” said Richard Henderson, who is originally from Canada to the New York Post.
“The rain was so heavy that you could barely see the Flamingo across the street.”
Henderson had been inside Caesar’s Palace when the flood water had burst through the ceiling. He said staff had scrambled to corner off an area “with a makeshift barrier of soaking wet slot machine chairs”.
“A quick glance to the ceiling and we were shocked to see water pouring out of every sprinkler head and other spots,” he continued.
“The sheer amount of water made one of my friends very nervous – she was very concerned about the possibility of more water coming in or a partial ceiling collapse.
“The lightning strikes were intense. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in Vegas.”
According to National Weather Service Las Vegas lead forecaster, Chris Outler, the rain is set to continue “through the weekend, which means the situation in Vegas could worsen and perhaps even become a serious danger to life:
“There are daily chances. Right now the rain has tapered off across the valley but just about every day, especially in the afternoon and evening hours, we have about 30% chances for Las Vegas,” added Outler.
It comes just two weeks after Vegas suffered another major bout of flash-flooding. On June 29, rainwater pelted through casino roofs, echoing this week’s events.
Meanwhile, other areas of the country are melting in blistering heatwaves which are 13F above the average for this time of year.