‘I thought I was going to die’: Windstorm causes chaos in Las Vegas — PHOTOS

Update: Las Vegas Valley picking up the pieces after powerful windstorm — PHOTOS

Strong winds from a dust storm and thunderstorms left thousands of residents without power and created a mess around the Las Vegas Valley on the first day of July as monsoon season arrived.

East Tropicana Avenue remains closed Wednesday morning between South Eastern Avenue and South Sandhill Road.

As of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were 97 outages affecting 3,738 customers, according to the NV Energy website.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, approximately 272 outages had affected 20,485 customers, according to NV Energy spokeswoman Meghin Delaney.

“These outages were caused primarily by severe winds, with gusts reaching up to 70 miles per hour in some areas – above what had been forecasted,” Delaney said in the release.

Crews are working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, the release said.

The update noted that as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, NV Energy is “aware of almost 50 poles that have been damaged by the wind and will need to be replaced.”

“While our teams will work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, the damage is significant and will take time to restore,” the release said. “Our teams will continue to work throughout the evening and in the coming days to make necessary repairs.”

Hard-hit areas

Many of the outages were located in the east and central valleys. An area around Alta Drive and Decatur Boulevard seemed to get hit particularly hard.

One stretch of Tropicana Avenue was shut down early Tuesday evening after at least eight utility poles along the street snapped, which caused power outages and left some drivers stranded in their vehicles for over an hour.

Kendra Day was driving her Jeep Cherokee home from her job on the Strip on Tuesday when a collection of power lines fell on her vehicle as she traveled east on Tropicana in east Las Vegas.

“I was on my way to the freeway to go home to Henderson, but then the wind came and down went the poles,” Day said. “I knew the (wires) had fallen on me. I heard it hit my car and I thought I was going to die.”

Day’s vehicle was just east of Tropicana and Pecos, between two fallen utility poles. When she called 911, she said she was told to stay in the vehicle in case the wires were still live.

Day, 35, was checked out my first responders once she got permission to leave her vehicle but said she didn’t suffer any major injuries.

“I was inside my car for close to two hours,” Day said. “But I’m still alive. God was on my side today.”

Just steps from Day’s SUV was a Toyota Prius, which had been driven by Claudia London of Las Vegas. Power lines also fell on her car and, like Day, she was forced to stay inside her vehicle for an extended period.

“The wind coming from the south was so severe, it was zero visibility,” London said. “All of a sudden, I hear a big boom, but I didn’t know what I hit, but it turns out in was the wires that had caved in my roof. I couldn’t see anything through the dust. I then saw all the power poles down on Tropicana. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.”

Contact Tony Garcia at tgarcia@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307. Follow @TonyGLVNews on X. Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.