A man fell over a bridge into a drainage tunnel near Twain and Eastern avenues Monday night and ended up standing in fast-moving water, forcing Clark County fire crews to call in a technical rescue team after their first attempt to reach him failed. The man was pulled to safety, assessed at the scene, and released.
Crews received reports of the fall at about 10:04 p.m. Monday, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported that firefighters arriving at the scene found the man standing in the rushing water inside the tunnel. Firefighters first tried to reach him using rope bags, but the newspaper reported those efforts fell short because of the distance and speed of the water separating rescuers from the man.
Technical Rescue Team Steps In
With the initial approach unsuccessful, the Clark County Fire Department’s technical rescue team set up a high-point rope system, according to the same report. A technician was lowered directly into the tunnel to secure the man before both were raised out together. The rescue wrapped up without further incident, and the patient was assessed on scene and released, the outlet noted.
As KSNV also reported, the rescue unfolded as fire officials described the man being hoisted out of the tunnel by a member of the technical rescue team. Few other details about the man or the circumstances that led to his fall have been released.
Storm System Fueled Flash-Flood Fears Region-Wide
The rescue came as tropical moisture pushed widespread showers and thunderstorms across Southern Nevada, with the wet pattern expected to continue through Tuesday, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas and most of the surrounding region fell under a slight flash-flood risk of at least 15% Monday, the Sun reported, with the National Weather Service flagging localized heavy rain and flash flooding as the primary concerns. Forecasters put the odds at 10% that Monday’s rainfall totals in Las Vegas would top 0.9 of an inch.
The storm system's reach extended well beyond the Las Vegas Valley. A flash flood watch was in effect for the Colorado River Valley and toward Lake Havasu, per the Review-Journal's Henderson coverage. That same storm produced another water rescue Monday afternoon in Henderson, where firefighters freed a motorist from a stalled vehicle near Moonwalk Terrace and East Paradise Hills Drive, close to Interstate 11. The vehicle was sitting in roughly two feet of standing water, and no injuries were reported in that incident.
Together, the two rescues underscore how quickly Southern Nevada's washes, tunnels and roadways can turn hazardous once heavy rain moves through. With storms expected to linger into Tuesday, drainage channels and low-lying roadways across the valley remained at elevated risk of flash flooding.
