Thunderstorms rock boaters at Lake Mead, agency reports

By ANNALISE LITTLE and WESLEY JUHL LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

10 years ago

Rain drops over the Las Vegas valley on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Monsoonal moisture has brought hot and muggy conditions to the Las Vegas are over the past few days. (Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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(Submitted to At the Scene/atthescene@reviewjournal.com)

(courtesy @CdDoughtyc/Twitter)

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(Stephanie Grimes/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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Construction workers offload roofing tiles on a the roof a home located near Tropicana Avenue and Hualapai Way on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Storm clouds surrounded the area in the southwest part of the valley. (Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Multiple people at Lake Mead needed rescuing after a system of thunderstorms rocked their boats Tuesday, according to the National Park Service.

The series of storms, which formed near Primm, brought flood and thunderstorm warnings to the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday afternoon.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area spokeswoman Christie Vanover confirmed the agency received 72 distress calls and worked 11 rescues.

A group of four people was still unaccounted for as of 9 p.m., but Vanover said their last GPS coordinates showed that the group was on land, within walking distance of a marina. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Search and Rescue unit was flying over the area.

One rescued woman had to tread water for 3½ hours without a life jacket, Vanover said, but most of the rescued were wearing them.

“Life jackets truly saved lives today,” Vanover said. “Some people did end up in the water.” The agency also responded to one boat sinking.

Henderson and Boulder City received the first wave of wind and storms Tuesday. A flood advisory was issued for Henderson and the east valley until 7:15 p.m.

A flood channel in Henderson had almost 4 feet of water as of 4:30 p.m., the Clark County Regional Flood Control District reported. Eastern Henderson recorded the heaviest rain so far, with minor flooding.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 2:45 p.m., as storms moved toward Jean and Sloan. The weather service recorded 57 mph wind gusts at Hoover Dam around 4 p.m.

Some rain gauges in the south valley measured about a third of an inch of rainfall in 15 minutes, flood district spokeswoman Erin Neff said.

“We’ll probably see the activity taper off for a few hours,” meteorologist Todd Lericos from the weather service’s Las Vegas office said. Other thunderstorms developing in California were expected in the valley Tuesday night.

Contact reporter Annalise Little at alittle@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391. Contact reporter Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381.