ProCaliberTraveler
Well-Known Member
A week ago, Hurricane Kay developed in the Pacific Ocean but weakened into a tropical storm before it made landfall in Southern California. The remnants of this tropical storm reached Death Valley National Park and dropped a large amount of rain in just a short time, creating fantastic waterfalls in the eastern portion of the park near Badwater Basin.
On Tuesday this past week, another thunderstorm passed through the area, this time bringing even more rain to the Mojave Desert which triggered massive flash floods. These floods shut down several state highways including State Routes 136 and 190, and U.S. Highway 395.
I work for the state department of transportation, so I got the chance to see the aftermath of these flash floods myself the morning after. The photos below show several sections of State Route 190 near Owens Lake, outside the western boundary of Death Valley National Park. I had never seen catastrophic damage to roadways like this in person before. I'd never seen undercutting like this, nor had I seen giant chunks of asphalt broken into pieces and flung from their original place. The photo below shows what's called Upper Centennial Wash.
In this shot you can see the culvert under the highway completely exposed. You can also see the path the flood took.
This part of the road runs along the southern shores of Owens Lake. This culvert should obviously be underneath the earth, not exposed. Also, the undercutting of the roadway is immense.
This culvert is on the other side of the road. I think this part is called Lower Centennial Wash.
I think it's appropriate to use the word "awesome" to describe what I saw out there. Flash floods of this size have awesome power. I also noticed that the floods changed the landscape so much that I didn't recognize certain parts. Personally, it was a thrill to photograph these spots while the scenes were still soggy.
On Tuesday this past week, another thunderstorm passed through the area, this time bringing even more rain to the Mojave Desert which triggered massive flash floods. These floods shut down several state highways including State Routes 136 and 190, and U.S. Highway 395.
I work for the state department of transportation, so I got the chance to see the aftermath of these flash floods myself the morning after. The photos below show several sections of State Route 190 near Owens Lake, outside the western boundary of Death Valley National Park. I had never seen catastrophic damage to roadways like this in person before. I'd never seen undercutting like this, nor had I seen giant chunks of asphalt broken into pieces and flung from their original place. The photo below shows what's called Upper Centennial Wash.
In this shot you can see the culvert under the highway completely exposed. You can also see the path the flood took.
This part of the road runs along the southern shores of Owens Lake. This culvert should obviously be underneath the earth, not exposed. Also, the undercutting of the roadway is immense.
This culvert is on the other side of the road. I think this part is called Lower Centennial Wash.
I think it's appropriate to use the word "awesome" to describe what I saw out there. Flash floods of this size have awesome power. I also noticed that the floods changed the landscape so much that I didn't recognize certain parts. Personally, it was a thrill to photograph these spots while the scenes were still soggy.
