A sudden flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon on Saturday, washing out footbridges and forcing dozens of people to evacuate by air.

By Sunday evening, roughly 15 people were still unaccounted for, according to updated reporting from FOX Weather. The National Park Service’s earlier public appeal had put that number at more than 20.

Officials are trying to establish who was in the affected area and where they are now. Being unaccounted for does not establish that someone was injured or swept away.

The park’s earlier appeal identifies the hiking and camping areas investigators are checking:

 

The National Park Service is asking families, friends and fellow hikers to help account for people who were in the Bright Angel Creek corridor on August 29:

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Investigators want information about anyone traveling the North Kaibab Trail between its trailhead and Phantom Ranch, staying at Bright Angel Campground, or visiting the narrow stretch north of Phantom Ranch known as “the Box.” People with campground reservations in the affected corridor are also part of that effort.

Helpful details include a person’s name, travel plans, approximate location, group size, clothing or backpack description, and when they were last known to be in the area. Tips can be submitted anonymously.

Anyone with information can call the NPS Investigative Services Branch at 888-653-0009. Park staff and the Arizona Department of Public Safety are coordinating the response while working to account for those who may have been caught in the flood zone.

The damage gives some sense of what hikers faced. Video shared by FOX Weather shows a structure being carried through muddy, debris-filled floodwater:

In its National Park Service closure announcement, the park laid out the destruction and the evacuation effort:

The flooding began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Arizona time, in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area deep inside the national park. Evacuations continued into Sunday as crews assessed damage to trails, bridges, utilities and facilities throughout Bright Angel Canyon, where nearly all footbridges crossing the creek had been destroyed.

By Sunday morning, 62 people had been evacuated from Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail. More evacuations were planned from Cottonwood Campground and Phantom Ranch, with the American Red Cross assisting evacuees at Maswik Lodge Cafeteria on the South Rim.

Nearly all footbridges across Bright Angel Creek were destroyed.

Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, the canteen and cabins, and the entire North Kaibab Trail were closed until further notice. The Black and Silver bridges across the Colorado River were closed as well, with no reopening date announced.

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Metal structures and debris entering the Colorado River also prompted a closure to river traffic. Rangers are directing groups already in the canyon through river operations staff and the Grand Canyon River Alert system.

The park reported no injuries in that morning update, while the effort to locate everyone continued.

Helicopter evacuation footage shows the response in the canyon. This earlier report still carries the initial count of at least 20 potentially missing people:

FOX Weather updated its report Sunday evening with the lower estimate of roughly 15 people unaccounted for and more detail on the storm:

The hardest-hit areas received about 1 to 1.75 inches of rain, according to the outlet’s forecast center. Runoff rushed through the canyon, while reports relayed by the National Weather Service described washed-out bridges and a metal building swept into the Colorado River.

Visitors with upcoming river trips were told to contact their outfitter or the NPS River Permits office. Xanterra was contacting guests with Phantom Ranch reservations about their bookings as closures remained in place.

Additional thunderstorms and heavy rain were possible Sunday and Monday, raising the risk of more flooding, debris flows and rockfall. Visitors are being asked to stay out of the closed areas.

For families still waiting to hear from someone, the immediate priority is getting their information to investigators. The NPS tip line is 888-653-0009.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

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