DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, California — A major road into Death Valley National Park will remain closed next week as crews clean up after record rainfall damaged the roadway and choked it with mud, rocks and debris.
Flash flooding at the park last week trapped hundreds of hotel guests and partially buried about 60 cars and trucks in the mud. No injuries were reported.
The California Department of Transportation said about 30 miles (48 kilometers) of State Route 190 were partially or fully buried with debris and about 20 miles (32 kilometers) have been cleared.
However, the route will remain closed until at least Aug. 17 from Trona Wildrose Road/Panamint Valley Road to state Route 127 in Death Valley Junction, Caltrans said in a statement.
“As our crews continue to clear debris. They have encountered several damaged road sections with total loss of shoulder, asphalt damage and roadway gouging,” said Caltrans District 9 Director Ryan Dermody.
Some of the collected debris will be used to fill eroded road shoulders, Caltrans said.
On Monday, flash flooding from a monsoonal moisture system also closed a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of road and prompted the evacuation of the southern part of Joshua Tree National Park, another desert park about 4 hour drive south of Death. valley
No injuries were reported.
Death Valley National Park, located near the California-Nevada state line, has more than 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) of roadway across 3.4 million acres (1.3 million hectares).
Last Friday’s record rainfall dumped 1.46 inches (3.71 centimeters) of rain in the Furnace Creek area. That’s about 75% of what the area typically gets in a year, and more than it’s ever recorded for the entire month of August.
Since 1936, the single wettest day was April 15, 1988, when 1.47 inches (3.73 centimeters) fell, park officials said.
