Arizona Flash Floods Kill 1 Rafter in Grand Canyon, Others Still Missing

A flashflood that swept Arizona this week including Flagstaff City killed a rafter from Grand Canyon camp.

Two people were reported to have gone missing from a Colorado River rafting trip in the Grand Canyon during the flash flooding, wherein one was found dead on Thursday in the frigid water, while the other one was found alive.

Grand Canyon spokeswoman Joelle Baird said that the camp was washed away by the torrent of water "where two commercial rafts with 30 passengers pulled off the river to stay Wednesday evening". The authorities initially conducted a search and rescue by air, ground and water and luckily found one survivor staying at the same camp their group had previously stayed to seek for shelter. Unfortunately, the other one was found dead in the water next to the camp that flooded.

As of now, the identity of the departed victim was not yet released by park officials.

A Trip Came to a Short End

(Photo : Photo by Jeff Topping/Getty Images)
BLACK CANYON CITY, AZ - DECEMBER 29: Dave Spider watches the 15-foot deep Agua Fria River from his landing December 29, 2004, which is usually dry at this spot, rush by his home at the Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground 50 miles north of Phoenix in Black Canyon City, Arizona. 

People are saddened by the unfortunate accident that was never known could have happened. The trip which was initially scheduled to last more than a week ended in the worst way possible.

The Arizona Raft Adventures company which operated the motorized trip spoke to John Dillon, the executive director of the Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association that represents the outfitters permitted in the canyon on Thursday about its response to the accident. Dillon said that the outfitters were glad to know that one rafter survived, but they were saddened by the sudden death of the other. Dillon is yet to speak to one of the company officials who happened to be in another trip on the river.

"Our hearts our broken that people on the trip lost somebody, people at home lost somebody," he said. "That matters more than anything else."

The flood had now turned the normally greenish-colored river in the park into a muddy brown as it hits the camp about 40 miles (64 kilometers) downstream from where the rafts launched at Lees Ferry near the Arizona-Utah state line.

Also read: Mind-boggling 45,000 People Apply for a Chance to Kill Grand Canyon Bison

Campers Rescue Operation

After officials had received a satellite phone call from one of the outfitters on the trip, asking for help, they immediately responded and sent a park helicopter with two paramedics to the location on late Wednesday. Some of the rafters had gotten injuries which were also promptly attended, te extent of the injury was not yet known.

Seven injured passengers were airlifted out of the canyon, while other rafters who want to cut their trip short got off the river with the park's help.

Arizona storm had hammered the entire Southwest lately despite two years of dismal monsoon activity. Meanwhile, a fire department swift water team in Tucson rescued a father and his two daughters from the roof of their car after getting stranded in the floodwaters, which was a 'usually dry wash'.

"Our message, telling everybody, be patient, especially here in the desert," a Golder Ranch Fire District spokesman said. "The water comes up quick, but it also goes away quick."

Also read: Man Spends Years Searching and Preserving More Than 1,000 Lost Apple Varieties!