Dust devil sends pool chairs flying into hotel guests in Las Vegas, video shows

A dust devil wreaked havoc on a popular Las Vegas hotel pool, video shows.

Guests were relaxing by the Luxor Las Vegas pool when they were suddenly caught in a whirlwind of lounge chairs, umbrellas and pool floats, videos posted to social media Saturday, July 9, show.

Cesar Paez told FOX 5 he was visiting Las Vegas from Southern California when the “mini-tornado” hit the pool. Multiple guests were knocked to the ground and injured, Paez said in a video posted to Instagram.

“All of a sudden when it gets to the concrete, it just went like 0-100. And it went so fast and it hit for maybe 5-8 seconds,” Paez told FOX 5.

Dozens of people were in the pool at the time, video from TikTok user hollyvagabond shows.

Paez said on Instagram a “little kid” got hit by a chair, and some kids were thrown around. He said multiple people were on the ground.

“It literally picked up chairs and was throwing people around,” he said in the video. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

The hotel closed the pool and evacuated everyone, according to the video.

The Luxor Las Vegas did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for information.

Dust devils can range from 10 to 300 feet in diameter and are less intense than a tornado, according to the National Weather Service. They can be up to 1,000 feet tall.

Dust devils form when the ground is so warm, it can warm the air to be hotter than the air just above it. The hot air rushes upward so quickly, it causes the air to form a vortex and rotate.

“Even though they are generally smaller than tornadoes, dust devils can still be destructive as they lift dust and other debris into the air,” the National Weather Service said. “Small structures can be damaged, and even destroyed, if in the path of a strong dust devil.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Dust devil sends pool chairs flying into hotel guests in Las Vegas, video shows."