9/13/04 Surprise flash flood washes SUV from road. |
Click on photos to enlarge. |
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| On a calm sunny day in the Death Valley area, no one was expecting a tidal wave on the Tecopa Hot Springs Road. But a noon trip had unexpected results for two local octogenarians. Where the road crosses the Amargosa River culverts, they suddenly hit water flowing over the road, and hydroplaned |  |
off the up-river side. They were able to exit the vehicle before the water
flowing through the culverts underneath sucked it further and further over
the bank. It took a crane to lift it out of the hardening mud.
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| The sheer volume of water many hours later indicates a lot of rain somewhere upstream a day or two before. Elders say a flood wave, no matter what size, will travel downstream at 4 miles an hour. Scattered thundershowers Saturday night caused extensive flooding within Death Valley for the second time in a month. (More) |  |
In 1979, Harry and Beulah Rosenberg were washed from the road by an Amargosa flash flood, bringing a washing machine home from Pahrump. The vehicle rolled over, and Beulah climbed to the roof and waited hours for assistance, knowing her husband was dead. His body was later recovered somewhere in Tecopa Canyon. |
Nuclear Waste Route CompromisedWater and slick clay covered several hundred feet of CA Route 127 two miles away, a daily nuclear waste route through the rural area between the Nevada Test Site and Interstate 15.
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In 1984, the
bridge at the Old Spanish Trail crossing washed completely away, and was replaced by culverts after many months. In both 1992 and 1993, extensive flooding
damaged the road segment again.
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