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Stranded visitors and park employees in Death Valley: The heavy rains have caused devastation
Photo: - / AFP
After floods in Death Valley in California, the driest place in the United States, rescue workers evacuated hundreds of people who were trapped.
"Due to the hard work of road workers, visitors who were previously unable to exit area hotels have now been able to carefully exit with police escort," the western US national park said on its website on Saturday.
The park will also be searched from the air to make sure there are no more stranded vehicles in remote areas, it said.
"At this time there have been no reports of visitors stranded on park roads and no reports of injuries."
Masses of water pushed dumpsters into parked cars
The national park administration previously announced: "Unprecedented amounts of rain have caused significant flooding".
Around 500 visitors and 500 employees could not leave the national park in the Mojave Desert west of the casino metropolis Las Vegas for the time being.
All roads should therefore remain closed until officials have an overview of the extent of the damage.
The water tore up streets and pushed dumpsters into parked cars.
Several cars were pushed into each other.
Offices and hotels were also under water.
In the Furnace Creek area, 3.7 centimeters of rain fell on Friday, almost equaling the previous daily record.
The average annual rainfall in Death Valley is two inches.
ani/AFP