A Hurricane in Death Valley

After Hurricane Hilary dropped two inches of rain in California’s Death Valley National Park, officials assessing the damage to park infrastructure and roads say it could be months before the park is fully accessible to visitors again—and the desert landscape could be changed forever. A majority of park roads remain closed, in many cases completely washed out by powerful torrents.

According to a Los Angeles Times article by Ryan Fonseca, “Officials told [L.A. Times reporter Hayley Smith] that some scorpions and lizards didn’t survive the flooding, but endangered pupfish appeared to make it through. Then there are the Bristlecone pines — some of the oldest known trees on Earth. The roadways up to the ancient forest are blocked by debris, so officials don’t yet know whether they survived the rain, wind and erosion.”

Now, officials will likely reinforce infrastructure as it gets rebuilt to prepare for future weather events that could become more intense due to climate change. “Climate models do seem to indicate that we will see more intense storms along with the higher temperatures,” said park ranger Matthew Lamar.