Visitors flee Death Valley after torrential rains strand 1,000 people, close roads

A torrential downpour stranded 1,000 visitors and workers at Death Valley as rain washed out hundreds of miles of roads in the national park in California.

All of the more than 1,000 miles of roads within the park remain closed while workers evaluate the damage, the National Park Service said in a news release Saturday, Aug. 6, one day after heavy rains slammed the desert.

“Where it really got crazy was between 4 and 4:30 (a.m.),” photographer John Sirlin told the Los Angeles Times. “We went from having a little bit of water running through the dips and washes, water a couple of inches deep, to suddenly you could hear the sound of rocks and boulders.”

The monsoon downpour, which dumped 1.46 inches of rain — narrowly missing the 1911 record of 1.47 inches — trapped 500 visitors and 500 workers in the park, CNN reported.

Crews have since cleared enough roads for most stranded visitors to leave with police escort, rangers said. Aerial searches by the U.S. Navy and California Highway Patrol are underway to ensure no visitors are stranded in their vehicles on remote roads.

“In most areas, water has receded, leaving behind extensive mud and gravel deposits,” the release said. Flooding also damaged some water lines and buildings in the park.

Highway 190 out of Death Valley may partly reopen by Tuesday, Aug. 9. Rangers and work crews are still evaluating the damage to other roads.

“You can just make a blanket statement that every roadway known in the park has debris washed over it,” incident information specialist Jennette Jurado of the National Park Service told the Los Angeles Times. “Sometimes the debris is light, only a couple of inches deep, and in other areas it’s feet deep.”

The total rainfall Friday amounts to 70% of Death Valley’s annual rainfall, CNN reported.

It’s not clear how long some roads will remain closed.

“I can’t speculate on whether that’s weeks or months, but there’s definitely going to be some long-haul repairs.” Jurado told the Los Angeles Times.

More than 1 million people visit Death Valley each year, according to the National Park Service.

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