Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Latest storm threat brings flash flood watch for Las Vegas

Odile

AP Photo/Fernando Lopez Pineda

A fallen utility post blocks a road as see through the windshield of a car in the city of Loreto, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014. Hurricane Odile blazed a trail of destruction through Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Monday that leveled everything from ramshackle homes to luxury hotels and big box stores, leaving entire neighborhoods as disaster zones.

Moapa Flooding

A minivan is seen in floodwaters beneath Interstate 15 in Moapa, Nev., Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood emergency for the area. (AP Photo/John Locher) Launch slideshow »

Flooding in Phoenix

Cars are stuck in flood waters on I-10 east at 43rd Ave. after heavy storms pounded the Phoenix area early Monday, flooding major freeways, prompting several water rescues and setting an all-time single-day record for rainfall in the desert city. Launch slideshow »

Southern Nevadans have a day to brace for new thunderstorms and flash flooding, as forecasters are expecting showers Wednesday and Thursday brought on by Tropical Storm Odile.

Odile, which was downgraded from a hurricane late Monday as it continued a course up Baja California, is expected to push a significant amount of moisture into the Southwest in the next few days.

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a flash flood watch for Southern Nevada from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 11 p.m. Thursday. The alert includes the Moapa Valley area that was left battered last week by remnants of Tropical Storm Norbert. Flooding damaged hundreds of homes across Clark County and washed away huge chunks of Interstate 15 near Moapa.

Weather Service meteorologist Stan Czyzyk said that Wednesday and Thursday appear to be the most active storm days in Las Vegas, each with a 50 percent chance of rain.

Although Las Vegas can expect storms, Arizona — particularly Tucson — is likely to suffer the brunt of Odile's heavy rains, Czyzyk said, before it heads east to New Mexico and Texas.

Odile pushed up Mexico's Baja California Peninsula early Tuesday, dumping heavy rains that could bring dangerous flash floods and mudslides but also a potential boon to the drought-stricken region.

Mexico's government said late Monday night that army and commercial planes would be sent to La Paz and Los Cabos airports to ferry out some of the tens of thousands of tourists stranded in temporary shelters in hotels. Los Cabos international airport was damaged by the storm.

Charly Park, 52, flew in from Los Angeles on Sunday but instead of checking into his hotel room, he and his wife spent the night at a cramped, hot shelter.

"It's a horrible experience, no air conditioning, no fans ... the power lines all fell down," Park said.

Emergency officials in Baja California reported that 135 people have been treated for minor injuries from flying glass or falling objects, but there were no serious injuries or deaths so far. About 30,000 tourists were in temporary shelters.

Before moving north late Monday, Odile made landfall near Cabo San Lucas as a powerful Category 3 hurricane before rapidly weakening. It toppled trees and road signs along the main highway, which at one point was flooded by rushing waters. Windows were blown out of high-end hotel rooms and resort facades crumbled to the ground.

Most of the area's power poles were blown over, leaving 239,000 people in the state of Baja California Sur without electricity, said Luis Felipe Puente, national coordinator for Civil Protection.

"In the seven years I've been here, I've never seen anything hit like this," said Alejandro Tealdi, a 32-year-old resident of Cabo San Lucas whose home was damaged.

Many homes and businesses were reduced to shells with only the core structure intact. The walls of an OfficeMax collapsed into the parking lot. A convenience store was torn apart with the contents of its shelves dumped to the ground, and some locals helped themselves to food, water and other goods.

In Colonia Unidad Real, a neighborhood that sprang up years ago in a former creek bed, hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed with debris scattered everywhere.

After spending a harrowing night with her in-laws, Graciela Castillo Monroy, 44, and her family returned to find the roof of their home gone and all but two of its cinderblock walls collapsed. They piled what belongings could be salvaged atop a soggy mattress and began picking up the pieces.

"Well, time to start over again," Monroy said.

Odile continued to lash the state of Baja California Sur with strong winds and heavy rains as it marched northward, but it weakened to a tropical storm late Monday night.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph). It was centered about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Loreto and moving to the north-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

Odile was expected to drop 6 to 12 inches of rain with isolated accumulations of 18 inches, threatening to unleash dangerous flash floods and landslides.

Meanwhile in the central Atlantic, Hurricane Edouard strengthened to a Category 2 storm Monday night with maximum sustained winds near 110 mph (175 kph), although it was forecast to remain far out at sea and pose no threat to land.

The U.S. hurricane center said Edouard's center was 520 miles (840 kilometers) east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving north-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

The Associated Press and Sun reporter Katie Visconti contributed to this report.

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