Nearly $12 million will be available to the National Park Service to repair flood damage to roads in Death Valley National Park.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced the emergency funding this week. Most roads in the desert park, including Highway 190 east of Panamint Valley, have been closed since a deluge of water from Aug. 5 thunderstorms wiped out some roads and covered others with debris.
Some of the most popular parts of the part remain closed, including Furnace Creek Visitor Center, Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, Dantes View and Mesquite Sand Dunes.
Click here for a full list of closures.
Several drivers became stuck in debris and mud in the hours and days following the rare summer storm.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement that the $11.7 million in emergency relief funding will allow roads to reopen quickly.
“This level of disaster, formerly considered an every-thousand-year phenomenon, gives us renewed urgency in the steps we’re taking to fight the climate crisis and to make our infrastructure more resilient,” he said.
Elsewhere in the Southern California deserts, floods linked to this summer’s very active monsoon season have also damaged roads in the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park.
