People push their stalled vehicle out of floodwaters at the Flamingo Road onramp to U.S. Highway 95 on Saturday. Standing water closed U.S. 95 at Decatur Boulevard for many hours Saturday, and rain caused an embankment on Interstate 215 to collapse, closing the Beltway for about five hours. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Storms late Friday and early Saturday closed freeways in the Las Vegas Valley and stranded campers near Hoover Dam.

Authorities closed Interstate 215 at Stephanie Street for about five hours Saturday after an embankment gave way around 8 a.m., said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Honea.

The freeway, also known as the Las Vegas Beltway, re-opened about 1:30 p.m.

Standing water on U.S. Highway 95 forced the closure of that freeway at Decatur Boulevard from Saturday morning until late afternoon, snarling traffic for hours.

Officials closed U.S. 95 around 8:45 a.m. because of a "substantial amount of standing water in the roadway," Honea said.

Nevada Department of Transportation crews pumped water from U.S. 95, Honea said. The freeway reopened about 5 p.m.

The National Park Service said 36 campers were stranded for at least 10 hours in Black Canyon, below Hoover Dam.

The park service learned that the group was stranded about 2 a.m. Saturday, but storms prohibited rescue workers from reaching the campers, said Roxanne Dey, spokeswoman for Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The campers, who were on a canoe and kayaking trip, were rescued by about 1 p.m., she said; no one was injured.

Honea said there was a "considerable" number of collisions on valley roadways Saturday morning, but he blamed it on poor driving rather than the weather.

"A lot of bad habits we get away with on dry pavement we don't get away with when it's wet," he said. "The road is far less forgiving" when wet.

Lt. Tom Roberts of the Las Vegas police said 57 traffic accidents occurred between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m., but he said he didn't know if they were related to the weather.

He said it appeared there were more accidents Saturday than during a rain-free day but fewer than on an average rainy day.

"Because it's a Saturday, there were fewer cars on the road," Roberts said.

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas said that about an inch of rain fell throughout the valley.

Meteorologist Charlie Schlott said the heaviest rains came down from 7 to 9 a.m.

"It (the rain) was pretty much all over town," he said.

The weather today is expected to be mostly sunny, with temperatures in the mid-70s, Schlott said.

Lightning accompanying the storms was blamed for a house fire in Henderson, authorities said.

Henderson Fire Department officials said the blaze began about 12:30 a.m. Saturday on the 200 block of Colina Circle, near Horizon Ridge Parkway west of Gibson Road.

The firefighters put out the roof fire within a half-hour. It caused about $2,000 in damage, officials said.