Tourists find safety after floods close Death Valley roads

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of hotel guests trapped by flash flooding at Death Valley National Park were able to drive out after crews cleared a pathway through rocks and mud, but roads damaged by floodwaters or choked with debris were expected to remain closed into next week, officials said Saturday.

The National Park Service said Navy and California Highway Patrol helicopters have been conducting aerial searches in remote areas for stranded vehicles, but had found none. However, it could take days to assess the damage — the park near near the California-Nevada state line has over 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) of roadway across 3.4 million acres (1.3 million hectares).

No injuries were reported from the record-breaking rains Friday. The park weathered 1.46 inches (3.71 centimeters) of rain at the Furnace Creek area. That’s about 75% of what the area typically gets in a year, and more than has ever been recorded for the entire month of August.

Since 1936, the only single day with more rain was April 15, 1988, when 1.47 inches (3.73 centimeters) fell, park officials said.

Nikki Jones, a restaurant worker who is living in a hotel with fellow employees, said rain was falling when she left for breakfast Friday morning. By the time she returned, rapidly pooling water had reached the room’s doorway.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Jones said. “I hadn’t seen water rising that fast in my life.”

Fearful the water would come into their ground-floor room, Jones and her friends put their luggage on beds and used towels at the bottom of doorways to keep water from streaming in. For about two hours, they wondered whether they would get flooded.

“People around me were saying they had never seen anything this bad before — and they have worked here for a while,” Jones said.

While their...