Death Valley hit by power outage over Christmas weekend

Las Vegas Review-Journal

12 months ago

A portable generator powered the water treatment plant at one of the park’s smaller water systems during the power outage on Christmas day. This water system is gravity-fed from a spring, unlike two larger systems that require a well pump. (NPS)

Santa brought Death Valley a power outage this year.

The California national park was hit by a 65-hour power outage over Christmas weekend that ended at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The National Park Service said the park was unable to pump water wells or power water treatment plants on the park’s two biggest water systems.

Park staff had to truck water to fill the tank at Stovepipe Wells Resort. Hotels had no power or heat in their rooms over the weekend, and restaurants had limited food options.

The park also had no cell service, and eight electric vehicles were towed out of the park after running out of electricity, park officials said in a news release Tuesday.

In total, 450 residents were affected by the weekend power outage, the Park Service said.