Published on 8 August 2022
On 5 August 2022, a flash flood hit the Death Valley National Park in California, USA. The amount of rain that fell in a few hours (34.5 mm) represented 75% of the volume that the area typically receives in a year, making 5 August the second-wettest day since the records started in 1911.
Due to the rainfall, numerous landslides occurred. The debris disrupted road traffic and buried the cars of several of the approximately 1,000 visitors crowding the park at the time of the flood.
This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 6 August, shows areas near Furnace Creek, Death Valley's hub, still flooded a day after the event.