Utah hikers scrambled to escape flash floods
No known fatalities; rescue crews find all missing campers
Josh Kaggie, 26, of West Jordan, was camping with a group of four friends in the scenic waterfall area when the floods struck. It is located on Arizona's Havasupai Indian Reservation, about 40 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.
According to The Associated Press, rescue crews found what they believe were the final missing hikers in the area Tuesday, meaning there were no known fatalities.
Thunderstorms dumped up to 6 inches of rain in the surrounding area that drains into the canyon Friday and Saturday, and another 2 inches fell on Sunday.
Supai is one of the most remote towns in the contiguous United States, only accessible by helicopter or by an eight-mile hike or horse ride along a foot trail.
Despite spending Saturday night outside the village on a steep rocky hillside, having to return to the village Sunday and not being helicoptered out until Monday, Kaggie was still upbeat after the ordeal.
"We really enjoyed our time there," said Kaggie, who was with former college friends. "My group handled it well. We made some lucky choices."
Kaggie said he now realizes that in such disasters you are mostly on your own, left to your own decisions and resources.
They believe the first flash flood that swept through probably saved people. It got campers moving to higher ground, before the second, much deeper wave struck.
Kaggie said the first warning signs were about 4 p.m. Saturday when they noticed some debris in the water at Mooney Falls. They returned to camp and two of the friends, Sam Nelson and Rob Lawrence, both from Phoenix, decided to leave anyway, because squirrels had destroyed their food.
A while later, at 5 p.m., a park ranger ran through the campground yelling "flash flood."
Except for a little rain Friday and another brief storm on Saturday, Kaggie said no significant rain fell in the campground or the village area itself.
His group hiked the two miles to the village and then kept hiking up the trail, hoping to reach the Hilltop, where their vehicle was parked. About a mile outside Supai, at dusk, they encountered about a foot of water coming down the trail.
They moved to higher ground, saw the water level stabilize and made camp there.
"We thought we'd be OK," Kaggie said. However, after a short sleep, things changed.
Rounds said this was the lone time he was frightened.
"In the middle of the night, I heard the river raging," he said. "I got up and saw a wall of water headed toward us."
Recent comments
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