"It's not unusual for thunderstorms to drench Death Valley this time of year, but this October was different.

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 that battered historic structures, chewed through roadways and altered the rugged landscape with layers of mud and rocks.

It was the wettest October on record in the area, which normally receives about 4 inches of rain a year."

Louis Sahagun reports for the Los Angeles Times November 10, 2015. [2]