California's Death Valley flood a 'once-in-1000-year event', say meteorologists

Meteorologists and the Death Valley National Park authorities have been describing the recent torrential rains in California's Death Valley as a once-in-a-1,000-year occurrence as they swept away automobiles, destroyed infrastructure, and washed debris over streets.

On Friday, August 5, the dry valley received almost an inch and a half of precipitation, which is close to the park's all-time high in a single day. According to meteorologist Daniel Berc of the National Weather Service, Las Vegas, the flood was a historic "1,000-year event" with a 0.1% chance of occurring in a given year, The Guardian reported.  

As per the specialists at NASA's Earth Observatory, the storm dumped a volume of water equivalent to about 75% of the typical yearly total in just three hours. The park officials also reported that hundreds of visitors and employees were left stranded in Death Valley national park and all routes are still unusable. 

However, individuals who were stuck were able to leave the park early this week with the help of park service staff, The Guardian reported. Furthermore, the floods have receded, leaving behind heavy layers of mud and gravel. 

(Image: AP)

California flash flood

Torrential downpours, on Friday, caused flash floods in Death Valley National Park, which buried automobiles, led officials to block all entrance and exit roads and left nearly 1,000 people stranded, according to officials. The park officials claimed that roughly 500 guests and 500 park employees were stuck and about 60 vehicles were covered in debris, The Associated Press reported.

Notably, occurrences like this one, formerly considered to be extremely unusual, are becoming more frequent. In the still-drought-stricken American west, scientists are discovering that weather extremes are becoming more common as a result of the climate crisis. As the planet continues to get warmer, dry periods are predicted to be disrupted by powerful, devastating storms. 

Besides this, the National Park Service noted in a statement that although no casualties have been recorded, aerial inspections are being carried out by California highway patrol and naval aircraft to make sure that no vehicles are still stuck in the park's most remote locales. 

Mike Reynolds, the park superintendent, asserted in a statement that it would "take time to rebuild" and that workers were still working to find how much of the park's approximately 3.4 million acres and over 1,000 miles of roadways had been damaged by the storm. 

In addition to this, the storm's impacts were captured by NASA satellites, which revealed a strip of blue over the normally brown landscape. 

(Image: AP)