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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Record floods Friday hit Death Valley National Park leaving 1000 people mostly visitors and workers stranded. '
Heavy rainfall triggering flash floods swept away cars, closed all roads.
About 60
vehicles were buried in mud and debris and about 500 visitors and 500 park
workers were stuck inside the park, The Associated Press quoted officials to
have said.
Where is Death Valley National Park?
The park
which is located near the California Nevada state line received 1.46 inches
(3.71 centimeters) of rain at the Furnace Creek area, about 75% of which is
typical in the area per year, topping what has been reported for the entire
month of August, The Associated Press reported.
Park
officials said since 1936, the only single day with more rain was April 15,
1988 when 1.47 inches (3.73 centimeters) was recorded.
“Entire
trees and boulders were washing down,” said John Sirlin, a photographer for an
Arizona-based adventure company who witnessed the flooding as he perched on a
hillside boulder where he was trying to take pictures of lightning as the storm
approached, according to The Associated Press.
“The noise from some of the rocks coming down
the mountain was just incredible,” he said in a phone interview Friday
afternoon.
The storm
followed another major flooding event earlier this week at the park, 120 miles
(193 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas, according to The Associated Press.
Some roads were closed Monday as mud and debris from flash floods swept across the
area, affecting western Nevada and northern Arizona severely.