Las Vegas windstorm blocks roadways, leaves thousands without power | Local Las Vegas

Portions of the eastern Las Vegas Valley were picking up the pieces Wednesday after a strong dust storm brought 70 mph winds that snapped trees and power poles, blocking roads and causing widespread power outages.

Among the roadways closed was a 1.4-mile section of East Tropicana Avenue between South Eastern Avenue and South Sandhill Road, an area of mixed development with commercial centers, apartments and other housing.

Along the road, workers were cleaning up debris from downed power poles and even a traffic signal. Four employees at a WingStop were filling a pickup truck bed with boxes of spoiled product after the wind damage left their refrigerators without power.

More showers were in the forecast for Wednesday, with a 50 percent chance of rain and highs in the upper 90s. Winds are expected to be lighter, with gusts of up to 18 mph.

Powerful storm

The damage came from a series of dust storms and thunderstorms that swept through parts of the Las Vegas Valley late Tuesday afternoon, bringing wind gusts as high as 70 mph that toppled trees and downed power lines — including some that trapped motorists in their vehicles until the lines could be shut off.

NV Energy reported more than 30,000 customers without power late Tuesday afternoon, with about 50 wind-damaged power poles in need of replacement. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, power had been restored to all but about 1,235 customers, according to the utility, which announced that it expects final repairs to be done Friday.

“One customer who comes frequently told me he counted 27 snapped power lines on his bike ride here,” said Jose Lucero, a greeter at a Walmart Supercenter on Tropicana Avenue. “Our power came back around 6 last night, but a lot is still down elsewhere.”

Just half a mile up the street, at the intersection of Tropicana and Pecos Road, men in neon safety vests and hard hats directed vehicles through the crossing, where the traffic signal was out and a two-way stop had been set up in its place.

No timeline has been announced for when Tropicana will be cleared.

Outage affects businesses

By 9 a.m. Wednesday, several cars had pulled up alongside the neighboring Bank of America’s ATM to learn that the screens had gone dark. A sign on the front door revealed that “due to circumstances beyond control,” the bank was temporarily closed.

Ovad Metab, 38, works as a salesman at a Mattress Firm next to a collapsed traffic signal on Tropicana. He came to work only to find out the store had no electricity. Metab learned he was being sent home for the day around 9:30 a.m., he said.

“I never saw something like that, especially here in Vegas,” Metab added. “It’s sad to see the city, the roads going on like that.”

Joey Scolaro, owner of Lucino’s Pizza on Tropicana Avenue, witnessed multiple telephone poles collapsing on the street near his store on Tuesday afternoon. Scolaro said he’s never seen wind as powerful as the wind that knocked over the poles. For him, though, the story isn’t the freak weather event but the community’s response to it.

“This is the kind of moments that you kind of got to help your fellow neighbors out,” Scolaro said. “So if we’re able to do that, we’re going to do that.”

The plaza where Lucino’s Pizza is located got power around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The shop, however, got power much earlier: The Cookie Bar on Chandler Avenue came to the shop and hooked up a generator. Still, Lucino’s was closed for the rest of the day Tuesday but was back open Wednesday.

Scolaro plans to pay the kindness forward. If anyone in the area doesn’t have working refrigeration or air conditioning, Scolaro said, they can come by Lucino’s Pizza, get a slice and beat the heat.

Homes ‘ripped apart’

As of Wednesday afternoon, multiple fundraisers requesting relief after Tuesday’s storm had populated GoFundMe’s local landing page. In one, Izaiah Mendoza of North Las Vegas said the weather ripped off the roof of his home. In another fundraiser post, photos showed a large tree splitting the exterior wall of a single-story home in Las Vegas.

“Our grandma needs major care, and our family it’s completely split apart,” organizer Jessy Mairena said in the caption. “We need help to get our family together including our dog Muffin.”

Matthew Henderson, 67, lives nearby along South Eastern Avenue. He said his home has power, but he saw trees and power lines go down around the area. When walking along Tropicana on Tuesday night, he saw a man alone in a wheelchair stranded on the sidewalk near an intersection, he said.

“He was halfway down (in) the dirt. He tried to go up,” Henderson added. “It looked like somebody finally went over and pushed him to the intersection and pushed him back up.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.