Flash flooding tore through the Grand Canyon on Saturday, killing one person and leaving at least 15 people missing, park officials said Sunday.
The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River. As of early Monday, the National Park Service had not released further details about the man.
The park service called a previous estimate of 20 missing or unaccounted for a working figure. At least 62 people have been evacuated from the park so far.
The flooding began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday after a series of storms swept over Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area, a historic lodge near the Colorado River.
Park and state public safety officials were continuing evacuation and search efforts.
“The flash flood resulted in significant impacts to infrastructure throughout Bright Angel Canyon,” a statement from the National Park Service reads. “Nearly all footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek were destroyed, eliminating hiker access across the creek. Grand Canyon National Park staff are continuing to assess damage to trails, bridges, utilities, facilities and other infrastructure.”
Phantom Ranch, its canteen, Bright Angel Campground, the North Kaibab Trail, the Black and Silver bridges, and river traffic in the area are closed until further notice. The Grand Canyon reaches a depth of about a mile. Its national park spans 278 miles of the Colorado River, with rock layers as old as 1.8 billion years and volcanic deposits dating back 5 million years.
Authorities are looking for anyone who may have been on the North Kaibab Trail between its trailhead and Phantom Ranch, at Bright Angel Campground, or in a stretch of canyon known as the Box.
The missing were either on backcountry trips in the inner canyon or on day hikes near the North Kaibab Trail and Phantom Ranch, park spokesperson Joelle Baird told The New York Times.
Helicopter crews searched the North Kaibab Trail and the Colorado River between the mouth of Bright Angel Creek and Deer Creek Narrows on Sunday but found no missing hikers, Baird said. The missing count could still change, she said.
The Colorado River was closed to boat traffic Sunday after floodwaters swept boulders, metal structures and other debris into the water.
The flooding also damaged the Transcanyon Waterline, the pipeline that supplies water throughout the park. The line is not operating, leaving the park with limited water reserves and prompting conservation measures.
The pipeline provides drinking water and fire protection for the South Rim, home to most park facilities. The outage is expected to significantly limit visitor activity ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Between 0.5 and 1 inch of rain fell within about 30 minutes in a steep, rocky stretch of the canyon, National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Johndrow told The Associated Press. Most of the water ran off instantly, he said.
A separate round of storms hit the canyon early Saturday and returned that evening, with about an inch of rain recorded over 24 hours.
One couple escaped to their cabin as the water rose. The bridges they had crossed 15 minutes earlier were gone by the time they were evacuated, a Red Cross spokesperson said.
Additional storms are possible through Monday and could bring more flash flooding, debris flows, rockfall and changing trail and river conditions, officials said. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for northern Arizona and other parts of the state through Monday evening, warning of dangerous currents in narrow canyons.
Showers on Sunday were mostly confined to the north side of the canyon, with rainfall rates of up to an inch per hour. Saturated soils and heavy monsoon moisture are raising the risk of further flash flooding, forecasters said.
