By Julia Harte and Steve Gorman
Aug 31 (Reuters) – At least two people were killed and as many as 20 or more others were unaccounted for after flash flooding struck the Grand Canyon in Arizona over the weekend, forcing the evacuation of dozens of hikers by helicopter, the National Park Service said.
Heavy rains on Saturday sent a cascade of mud, boulders and debris rushing through Bright Angel Creek, a major side canyon that runs from the park’s North Rim to the Colorado River, sweeping away trails, foot bridges and other infrastructure.
On Monday, the National Park Service confirmed that the bodies of two flood victims had been recovered, one of them a 46-year-old man whose remains were found on Sunday, while search-and-recovery operations continued along the canyon floor.
The precise number of people still missing two days after heavy downpours transformed the Bright Angel Creek area of the canyon into a raging torrent was unclear. But the Park Service said in a social media post on Sunday that the agency was seeking “information about more than 20 individuals who may be missing or unaccounted for” following Saturday’s flood.
As of Sunday morning, 62 people had been evacuated from Phantom Ranch, an historic lodge and campground near the confluence of Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River, and the North Kaibab Trail, which follows the creek through the canyon floor, according to the Park Service.
“The flooding caused extensive damage to infrastructure in the inner canyon, including the Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water from the canyon for use in the park,” the Park Service said.
With the system temporarily knocked out of operation, the park was left with limited water reserves, requiring significant conservation measures for park facilities, according to the agency.
The popular South Rim of the park remained open to the public during the day on Monday, but overnight accommodations and other concessions were closed, with additional thunderstorms expected early this week.
Several hiking and lodging areas affected by the floods remained fully shuttered on Monday as well, and the Park Service asked that visitors remain clear of flood-stricken areas for the time being.
Park visitor David Gregory told CBS News that he and other guests of the Phantom Ranch lodging complex fled across a footbridge to higher ground, at the urging of a park ranger, just 10 minutes before the span was washed away.
“It was like a whirlpool in there, with all the debris circling around, cabins and other equipment from the maintenance work site,” he said. “I don’t think we would have made it out alive … I think it would have been game over.”
Among Grand Canyon National Park visitors caught up in the flood was U.S. Representative David Schweikert, an Arizona Republican, who was rafting with friends through the canyon near Bright Angel Creek when they heard an approaching roar.
“It sounded like a handful of locomotives coming through and smashing boulders,” Schweikert was quoted as telling the Arizona Republic. His group managed to hike out to safety, he said.
The Grand Canyon ranks as one of the crown jewels of the U.S. national park system, drawing some 4.4 million visitors last year.
(Reporting by Julia Harte and Steve Gorman; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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