LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Friday that more than $4.5 million would be available for use in Death Valley National Park to support ongoing repairs in the area.
According to the department, the money was made immediately available as a "quick release" of emergency relief funds, which will offset the costs of repair work needed for roads, trails, and other infrastructure. Flash flooding brought on last month by Tropical Storm Hilary brought a historic amount of rainfall to the West Coast as the first storm to make landfall in the region in the last 80 years.
“The funds we’re providing will speed up repairs at Death Valley National Park and other federal land locations affected by Tropical Storm Hilary, helping communities with critical transportation connections,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The flash flooding damaged numerous roads, trails, and parking areas in the park, resulting in "roads being buckled or completely destroyed, bridges being impacted, road surfacing lost, and damage caused by significant debris and erosion," according to officials
“The Federal Highway Administration is ready to assist federal agencies tasked with fixing roads, trails, bridges, and parking areas in and around Death Valley National Park and other federal lands in California and Nevada damaged by flooding last month,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “Today’s provision of quick-release emergency funds is the first of many steps to help authorities get the work done as soon as possible.”
The emergency relief funds will also be used for projects needed due to flooding in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada that damaged transportation facilities, destroyed road segments, and collapsed culverts.
More information about FHWA’s Emergency Relief program can be found online at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/erelief.cfm.
