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Death Valley Storm Recovery By The Numbers

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Published Date

October 31, 2015
Road damage at Death Valley National Park from October 15 flooding/NPS

Sections of road in the northeastern corner and southern end of Death Valley National Park were heavily damaged by flooding in October/NPS

As National Park Service officials and crews at Death Valley National Park work to recover the park from heavy rains in mid-October, let's take a look at some of the numbers associated with the rains and resulting flash flooding.

* 18 -- October 18, the date of the heaviest rains.

* 5 -- Hours it took for nearly 3 inches of rain to fall on the northeast corner of Death Valley, including Grapevine Canyon, where Scotty's Castle is located.

* 4 -- Normal amount of rainfall, in inches, that falls in Grapevine Canyon annually.

* 1.3 -- Measureable precipitation at Furnace Creek near the heart of the park, making this the wettest October on record.

* 93,000 --- Estimated rate, in cubic feet per second, of flash flood that roared through Grapevine Canyon on October 18, a rate rougly 10 times that of a "100-year flood," or the strongest flood that might occur over a 100-year period.

* 20 -- Number of park visitors who spent the night of October 18 in their vehicles near the Ubehebe Crater due to the storms.

* 3 -- Number of miles park staff had to hike on October 19, due to washed out roads, to reach Scotty's Castle.

* 8 -- Number of miles of Bonnie Clarie Road leading to Scotty's Castle that were washed out by the floods.

* 10 -- Miles of the Badwater Road south of Badwater that had "major sections" of pavement washed out.

* "Twenty" Mule Team Canyon Road -- This road was destroyed by flooding.

* 1-4 -- Feet of mud left behind inside the Visitor Center and Hacienda buildings at Scotty's Castle.

* 5 -- Feet of mud piled up against the exterior walls of the historic Longhouse at Scotty's Castle.

* 24 -- Number of power poles in the Scotty's Castle area that were destroyed by floodwaters.

* $550,000 -- Annual amount of fees that ranger tours at Scotty's Castle generate on average each year.

* 120,000 -- Number of visitors who tour Scotty's Castle on average each year.

* 10s of millions -- Estimated amount of damage caused by the flooding.

* ?? -- Unknown number of months it will take to cleanup, repair, and reopen Scotty's Castle to visitors.

Though the pool Albert Johnson had built at the mansion was never finished and filled with water, the flooding partially filled the elaborate, and large, structure, as these Park Service photos show:

Floodwaters partially filled the pool at Scotty's Castle/NPS
Scotty's Castle Pool, Death Valley National Park/NPS

 

Scotty's Castle pool, Death Valley National Park/NPS

Comments

This is Death Valley's equivalent of the Yellowstone fires of 88, or the Mt. Rainier flooding of 06. 


Wow - first I've heard of the flooding.  Sorry to see the damage.  On a positive note, this will generate a beautiful set of wildflowers come spring, right?


You folks lookin for help with the clean up ? I will help. let me see what i can find out with NPS.

Sorryt to see this


Looking forward to a great wildflower season next year!  Will damages to infrastructure be repairEd by then?

thanks

jim in dc


They're working on recovery work, Jim, but not sure the timetable at this point. Doubtful Scotty's Castle will be back in full operation. Check out the mud in the visitor center there:


Let us know what you find out. I could volunteer during college winter break (December.)

Winter hasn't even begun, yet. I hope that this is the worst we'll see.


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