Death Valley Aug 7 (BNA): A flash flood caused by near-record rain Friday in one of the hottest and driest regions on Earth, stranding nearly 1,000 people inside California’s Death Valley National Park and forcing a temporary closure , according to park officials. He said.
About 60 vehicles owned by park visitors and employees are buried among several feet of rubble at the Inn at Death Valley, a luxury historic hotel near the park’s headquarters in Furnace Creek, a location in a spring-fed oasis near the Nevada border, the park said. Reuters reported in a statement.
The floodwaters also pushed garbage cans into parked cars, pushed vehicles into each other and inundated many facilities, some hotel rooms and commercial offices, she added.
There were no reports of injuries. But about 500 visitors and 500 park staff were unable to leave the park because all roads to and from Death Valley were closed, according to the statement.
The water treatment system serving Cow Creek area residents to parks and offices has ceased service.
Park spokeswoman Amy Waynes said the flooding dumped torrential rain that dumped 1.46 inches (3.7 cm) of rain in Furnace Creek, close to the previous record there of 1.47 inches measured from torrential rain in 1988.
By comparison, the park averages 2.2 inches of precipitation annually, making it the driest place in North America. Waynes said Furness Creek holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius).
Flash floods caused by monsoon rains are a normal part of the Death Valley environment and occur somewhere in the park nearly every year, constantly carving out and reshaping the valley’s magnificent landscape.
But a flood of the size of the range seen on Friday, last hit Death Valley in August 2004, closing all roads for 10 days and killing two people whose vehicle was swept away, according to Waynes.
The US Park Service said no more monsoon rains are expected and imminent, but additional rain is expected in the coming days. It was not immediately clear when the park would reopen to road traffic.
MI