Nevada thunderstorms leave record rainfall, power outages

Violent storms that ripped through the Las Vegas Valley displaced residents and produced record rainfall, floods and power outages, officials say. The National Weather said the storm moved into the area about 7 p.m. Friday, dumping between 0.4 inches and 1 inch of rain the area in a little more than an hour, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The torrential rains broke the previous record of 0.17 inches for the day, set in 1951. The weather service said 70 mph winds and more than 700 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes accompanied the storm. Forty to 50 people were evacuated from a condominium complex after at least 12 apartments were damaged when the storm snapped trees in half. Power and gas to the complex were shut off while the units were repaired and the trees removed, said Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski. The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center at a high school for the displaced residents. Lightning struck a home in Henderson, setting it on fire. No one was injured, but the fire caused about $5,000 in damage. The storm left 33,000 people were left without power, said NV Energy spokeswoman Kelley Mulroy. Power was restored to many areas by 11 p.m. Minor flooding was reported throughout the region, and high water impeded traffic at several intersections in Las Vegas. Forecasters issued a flash flood watch for all southern Nevada through Monday, KVVU-TV, Las Vegas, reported.