7 dead in zion national park flash flood

Canyoneering has grown in popularity in recent years, attracting people who enjoy the challenge and the beauty of the canyons.Įven a small amount of rain can turn a trip deadly as the moisture runs off the desert landscape and fills the canyon with water, branches, rocks and debris.Zion National Park is home to majestic and wondrous canyons, cliffs, crags, mesas, rivers, and slot canyons. You're in a slot pretty much the whole way,' Eaker said.Įxploring slot canyons found in the desert Southwest can require a combination of hiking, climbing, swimming and caving. Rangers closed the park's canyons after the storm hit, but there was no way to warn those already inside the majestic slot formations, which can quickly fill with rain water and leave people with no escape.Īside from one spot near the entrance of Keyhole Canyon, 'there really is no high ground. The group was told of the danger of flash flooding when they got their entry permit, a common warning during the rainy season, park officials say. Only 80 people a day can visit Keyhole Canyon. Steve Arthur and his wife Linda were part of the group. In an earlier identification, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in Southern California said Sgt.

The route is considered entry level, according to canyoneering experts. Officials believe the group entered Keyhole Canyon late Monday afternoon, after some of those new to canyoneering took a course, he said. 'It would be just like a drain, it just funnels down in there very quickly, very fast,' he said. The flooding likely rushed over their heads in moments and carried them miles downstream, Eaker said. North in Zion, the seven hikers were clambering through a popular canyon when a deluge seen only once a century unleashed a wall of churning water. Mertlich's family reported him missing Tuesday, saying he typically drives the back roads in the area, said Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter. Ryan Mertlich's car was discovered heavily damaged in a flood plain about 15 miles west of Colorado City. Man arrested in connection with drive-by shooting outside Downey restaurantĪuthorities in Mohave County, Arizona, said Thursday they were searching for a 33-year-old man from the area who has been missing since the flash floods hit Monday. Raging waters swept two cars downstream, leaving a 6-year-old boy still missing. The flash flooding also killed at least 12 other people, including nine children, in a nearby polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border. The park is investigating what led to the deaths and reviewing its policies, but the process for canyon entry permits is decided at the national level and any changes would likely need to come from the top down, park spokesman David Eaker said. Some in the group were new to rappelling and were swimming through narrow canyons in a sport called canyoneering, but park policy prevents rangers from assessing their skill level or stopping them from going, even after repeated warnings of the flood risk Monday. The rest of the victims were found earlier this week. Park officials said Linda Arthur's body was found Thursday a few miles from the sandstone gorge where the group got trapped during a violent rainstorm, in an area that had been unreachable previously amid fears of more flooding. The seventh flooding victim was Don Teichner, 55, of Mesquite, Nevada. The park listed the Southern California fatalities as Mark MacKenzie, 56, of Valencia Linda Arthur, 57, and Steve Authur, 58, both of Camarillo Gary Favela, 51, of Rancho Cucamonga Muku Reynolds, 59, of Chino and Robin Brum, 53, of Camarillo. The hikers were killed when fast-moving floodwaters rushed through a narrow park canyon Monday afternoon.

Six of the seven hikers killed in Zion National Park this week in a flash flood were from Southern California.

7 dead in zion national park flash flood