HENDERSON, Nevada — A person rescued from a flooded wash near Lake Mead Parkway and North Pueblo Boulevard in Henderson on Friday, October 30, went into cardiac arrest and died at a hospital, city officials said. It was one of three water rescues Henderson firefighters carried out at almost the same time, around 1 p.m. on Friday, involving four people in all — and forecasters warn the Las Vegas Valley and much of the Southwest face more flooding rain through Monday, November 2.
Source: City of Henderson via Beinsure / Las Vegas reporting
In the second rescue, floodwater swept a vehicle off Lake Mead Parkway east of the Lake Las Vegas entrance, trapping two people inside. Crews pulled both out with no reported injuries, according to the city account carried in local reporting. In the third, on North Milan Street near Drake Street, a driver whose car stalled in floodwater climbed onto the roof and waited there until responders arrived; that driver was also rescued without injury.
Only the wash rescue ended in death. Firefighters pulled the person from the drainage channel near Lake Mead Parkway and North Pueblo Boulevard; the person suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to a hospital, where they died. Officials have not released the person's name or further details.
Streets under water across the valley
The National Weather Service had a flash flood warning in effect for eastern Henderson and Lake Las Vegas until 3:45 p.m. on Friday. County rain gauges recorded more than 1.5 inches of rain in parts of east Henderson, the Weather Service reported hail the size of ping-pong balls east of downtown Las Vegas, cars were left stranded and partly under water at Eastern Avenue and Interstate 11, and parts of Lake Mead Parkway were closed under rocks, mud and debris, KTNV reported.
Source: National Weather Service / Las Vegas Review-Journal via Today News Brief
The rain returned on Halloween night, when the Weather Service issued a fresh flash flood warning covering Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Summerlin. The storms are being fed by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Vance, the National Hurricane Center's tracking shows — the same system whose moisture has soaked ground across the region all week.
Phoenix and Scottsdale rescues the same evening
Arizona took the same storm on Friday evening. The Phoenix Fire Department rescued people from four vehicles stranded on flooded streets, and in neighbouring Scottsdale, fire crews rescued three people after two vehicles entered the same flooded roadway, where the water stood an estimated three to four feet deep. Scottsdale fire Captain Dave Folio put the danger plainly in a department video: just two inches of water can sweep a vehicle off its wheels.
Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, warned that ground already saturated by days of rain makes even moderate new rainfall dangerous — in the desert Southwest, dry washes and low crossings can fill in minutes, well away from where the rain is heaviest.
What happens next
Flood watches cover nearly all of Arizona and parts of southern Nevada, southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and western New Mexico through Monday, November 2, with a flash flood watch in force for parts of southern Nevada and north-west Arizona through Sunday night. Some locations could receive up to four inches of additional rain, the Weather Service warns, and the FOX Forecast Center puts the Phoenix-to-Flagstaff corridor at up to five inches through Monday.
Source: National Weather Service via RusTourism News
The standing advice from forecasters and fire departments is unchanged and worth repeating for anyone driving the region this weekend — including the Punjabi truckers who run Interstate 11, Interstate 15 and the Arizona corridors: never drive through flooded roads or washes, because the water's depth and the road's condition underneath cannot be judged from the driver's seat. Check the National Weather Service offices in Las Vegas and Phoenix before setting out, and expect closures where debris has already come down once.