Two people have died and one person remains missing after a flash flood in the Grand Canyon. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
According to the National Park Service, a surge of water and debris swept through part of the Grand Canyon over the weekend. Dozens of visitors were evacuated by helicopter. Nearly 80 people were rescued, and one person is still unaccounted for.
Rescue efforts
Incident commander Dave Black said officials used night-vision equipment to find people needing evacuation. Park officials asked the public for information about hikers or backpackers near Bright Angel Creek.
Weather forecast
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of an elevated risk of flash flooding through Monday due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. "With deep monsoonal moisture in place and already saturated soils in some locations, an elevated risk of flash flooding will be in place through Monday," the NWS said.
Causes of the flood
Flash floods are not uncommon in the region, especially during monsoon season from June to September. Scientists have long warned that the climate crisis will create stronger extremes. The sudden rainstorm may have been supercharged by the historic El Niño.
Damage
The flood wiped out footbridges over Bright Angel Creek. The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered on Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River. At least one other body has been recovered.
About 40% of a key pipeline providing drinking water was damaged or destroyed. The 12.5-mile Transcanyon Waterline has endured dozens of breaks in recent years. A repair project costing over $200 million was underway when the floods hit.
Restrictions
Emergency water restrictions began on Monday, closing all overnight lodges and hotels in the park. Year-round residents were asked to conserve water.
Eyewitness accounts
Hiker Gabriel Burgeman told a local news station: "It must have been, like, 10 minutes afterwards – we crossed the bridges to get to the evacuation zone. We were just barely in time to cross them before they got wiped out."
Parth Desai, hiking through Bright Angel Canyon, said: "We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere."
The flood was a blow to efforts to modernize the pipeline serving 6 million visitors a year. Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado, said: "Heaven help us if the whole thing down there at the bottom has to be reconstructed."