It probably shouldn’t be surprising that in arid climates, the storm sewer system would be put to some other use during the dry spells. In Las Vegas, an estimated 300 homeless people are living in the tunnels under the city. Most are men, many are addicted to drugs, and some of them have been living there for as long as five years.
A few have even brought furniture—a queen-sized bed, a large mirror—down into the tunnels and have created murals on the walls where light filters through.
Even the police rarely venture into the tunnels, and people who work with the city’s homeless say that those living aboveground are afraid of the ones who live below. It’s mostly dark, it’s full of spiders and washed-in garbage, it stinks, and, when it rains, the water comes through very quickly.
In most months, the city averages less than half an inch of rain, often much less than that, but when storms do occur they can dump a lot of water fast, as those who have seen the region’s famous flash floods are aware. “When the water comes,” one denizen of the tunnels told a reporter, “it’ll take you.”
Thanks to Gordon England for sending the Associated Press article.