The flooding destroyed footbridges and sent debris into the Colorado River, prompting evacuations

NEED TO KNOW

• Twenty hikers are unaccounted for after flash flooding swept through Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona on Saturday, Aug. 29
• The flooding destroyed footbridges and sent debris into the Colorado River, prompting evacuations
• Officials are seeking the public’s help in locating the missing hikers

Twenty hikers are unaccounted for after flash flooding swept through Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

On Sunday, Aug. 30, the National Park Service (NPS) said “significant” flash flooding struck the Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on Saturday, Aug. 29, sending large boulders, metal structures and other debris into the Colorado River.

Dozens of others were also evacuated from the area, the NPS said, and officials have asked for the public’s assistance in identifying any hikers who are still unaccounted for.

“The National Park Service is asking anyone who knows of hikers or backpackers who were in the inner canyon along the Bright Angel Creek corridor on Aug. 29, as well as anyone who had a campground reservation in the affected corridor, to provide information to the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB),” the agency wrote in a press release.

“This includes individuals who may have been traveling along the North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch, staying at Bright Angel Campground, or traveling or staying in the area known as ‘the Box’ north of Phantom Ranch,” the NPS continued, noting that its officials and the Arizona Department of Public Safety were assisting in the rescue and evacuation efforts.

Joelle Baird, a spokeswoman for Grand Canyon National Park, told The New York Times that the missing people were “either on a backcountry itinerary in the inner canyon or believed to be day hiking along the North Kaibab/Phantom Ranch area.”

Officials initially estimated that around 15 hikers were unaccounted for, but that number was later revised to 20.

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The flooding began around 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to the NPS. At least 62 people had been evacuated from the popular tourist destination following the flooding.

“Nearly all footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek were destroyed, eliminating pedestrian access across the creek,” the agency said in an earlier press release.

Evacuees were taken to the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria on the canyon’s South Rim, and the American Red Cross assisted with response efforts.

Baird told the Times that the Park Service and DPS on Sunday used two helicopters to search the North Kaibab Trail corridor, as well as the Colorado River from the mouth of Bright Angel Creek to the Deer Creek Narrows.

“No missing individuals were located during these flights,” she said.

The Park Service warned in its earlier press release that additional thunderstorms and heavy rainfall were possible later on Sunday and Monday, and that “could result in additional flash flooding, debris flows, rockfall and changing trail and river conditions.”

Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, the Phantom Ranch Canteen and the entire North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch will be closed until further notice, the NPS added.

Anyone with information about a missing hiker is asked to contact the ISB tip line at (888) 653-0009 or by emailing nps_isb@nps.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Officials said that anyone submitting a tip is asked to include any information about the missing individual, including their name, travel plans, group size, a description of their clothing or backpack and when they were last known to be in the area.

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