Las Vegas dries out after two days of heavy rain

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas residents dried out Sunday after two days of heavy rains that flooded streets, triggered various water rescues, shut down part of Interstate 15 south of the city and potentially resulted in at least one death.

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According to the National Weather Service, a small risk of excessive rainfall was expected Sunday before drying out conditions for the rest of the week.

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According to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, recent days of heavy rain resulted in 24 water rescues, including more than 30 vehicles stranded in the water and about a dozen people rescued from standing or running water.

On Saturday morning, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue found the body of a presumed drowned person in northwest Las Vegas after passersby reported he had been swept away by running water, KSNV reported. A cause of death and the person’s name were not immediately released by authorities.

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According to the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, some areas in and around Las Vegas received more than 3 inches of rain over the past two days.

According to the weather service, Las Vegas will receive up to 3.9 inches (9.9 centimeters) of rain in 2023, which is 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) above normal and just 0.19 inches (0.48 centimeters) below normal the city’s normal annual rainfall.

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The city had already been hit by rainfall from Tropical Storm Hilary last month, which blanketed the Las Vegas Strip and prompted several water rescues.

In addition to flooding streets and sidewalks in Las Vegas, the heavy rains also closed all lanes of I-15 south of Jean. However, late Saturday evening, officials announced that all lanes on the highway had reopened.

A flood warning remained in effect for portions of eastern, north-central, northeast and south-central Nevada through Monday morning, according to the weather service.

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