Flooding in Death Valley

Floodwaters fill a never-completed swimming pool dating to the 1920s at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. The villa suffered relatively minor damage. But the adjacent visitors center, bookstore and administrative offices were swamped with mud up to 4 feet deep.

The dislocated asphalt of Highway 267 had bubbled and warped around the rocks beneath it. “It reminds me of the surreal imagery of melting objects in Salvador Dali’s paintings,” a National Park Service spokeswoman said.

A foot-thick layer of mud fills the garage area of the visitors center at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. This week, federal appraisers fanned out to take a full accounting of the destruction as utility crews continued the massive job of hauling away mountains of muck.

National Park Service Ranger Linda Slater photographs the damage from floodwaters inside the visitors center at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. The northern section of the park was hammered by back-to-back storms, followed by a powerful weather system that dropped nearly 3 inches of rain in five hours, triggering a 1,000-year flood event.

Mud and debris fill Grapevine Canyon near Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. It was the wettest October on record in the area, which normally receives about 4 inches of rain a year.

Mud fills the visitors center at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. Flooding destroyed the area’s water treatment facility and sewage system, swept away miles of fencing and reduced 24 power poles to splintered stumps.

The asphalt on two-line Highway 267 is cracked, buckled, bubbled and fissured after the floodwaters roared through. More than 100 people from 22 national parks and National Park Service support services have been deployed to help stabilize infrastructure, salvage furnishings and office equipment and restore public access in the Scotty’s Castle area.