LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Cars buried in debris, flooded buildings and roughly 1,000 people trapped. The National Park Service (NPS) says that rainfall has caused “substantial flooding” in Death Valley National Park, leading to the closure of all roads leading in and out of the park on Friday.

At this time, there are roughly 500 visitors and 500 staff unable to leave the park, according to NPS. No injuries have been reported.

According to a release from NPS, the California Department of Transportation says it will take around four to six hours to open a road on Highway 190 to exit from the east side of the park.

https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/08/05/roughly-1000-people-trapped-death-valley-due-severe-flooding/

The report ends that it was a 200 to 500 year event .......

But the last time this happened was in 1988, so surely it should be classed as a 30-50 year event.

37 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The report ends that it was a 200 to 500 year event .......

But the last time this happened was in 1988, so surely it should be classed as a 30-50 year event.

"The heavy rain that caused the devastating flooding at Death Valley was an extremely rare, 1000-year event, says Daniel Berc, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Las Vegas. “A 1000-year event doesn't mean it happens once per 1000 years, rather that there is a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year." 

 

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/death-valley-experiences-1-000-year-rain-event.htm