What it's like to work in Death Valley, where businesses face 130-degree weather, flash floods

[discocrisco01]

Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth. This July, local temperatures reached 130 degrees.

Extreme heat, the deadliest weather hazard in the US, is becoming more common due to climate change.

When Jenni Williams went to snap a picture of the Death Valley thermometer reaching what looked like a record-breaking 135 degrees, her camera broke.

Things are always breaking in the hottest place on Earth, said Brooke Grey, a 23-year-old hotel manager at The Amargosa Opera House and one of Death Valley Junction's few permanent residents. Water pipes, roofs, cameras, and tourists, the harsh heat governs everything in the small desert town.

Summers in Death Valley are always extreme, but this July broke world records. On July 9, the temperature was hot enough to cook a medium-rare steak.

Tourists posed next to the visitor center thermometer in bikinis and t-shirts, their skin pink and sweaty. The digital screen read 135 degrees, though park officials later announced it was actually five degrees cooler.

https://news.yahoo.com/death-valley-where-businesses-face-114400132.html

[LeftInTX]

1. Someone's gotta live there.....

It's a cool place to visit in the winter. I was 12, so I thought it was cool.

At age 65, I have no interest in visiting it, even in the winter.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Somehow I always thought that no one lived in Death Valley.

It's amazing how often I'm wrong about things.