HILDALE, Utah (AP) — The latest on the deadly flash flooding to hit the Utah-Arizona border region (all times local):
7:27 p.m. A Southern California sheriff’s department says one of six people killed in flash flooding that swept through Utah’s Zion National Park is a sergeant with the department, and his wife was also on the hiking trip.
Ventura County sheriff’s Capt. John Reilly said Wednesday that 58-year-old Sgt. Steve Arthur was among the dead. Reilly says Arthur’s wife, Linda Arthur, was with him and is missing. He says the couple’s family informed the department of their status.
Park officials say six bodies have been recovered and one person remains missing after the flooding. The department said in a statement that Arthur was a 21-year-veteran who worked as a traffic supervisor in the city of Camarillo and has three children and seven grandchildren.
The statement says Arthur was known for his efforts working with local youth both while on and off duty and had a “huge compassion for humanity.”
1:55 p.m.
The mayor of a small polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border says searchers are hoping to find a 6-year-old boy after flash flooding killed 12 others, including the child’s mother, aunts, siblings and cousins.
Hildale, Utah, Mayor Philip Barlow confirmed Wednesday that crews are looking for 6-year-old Tyson Lucas Black. Barlow says Josephine Jessop, Naomi Jessop and Della Black died Monday after flooding swept away two cars they were riding in with their kids.
The three women are sisters. Josephine Jessop and Naomi Jessop also are sister wives, with both married to Joseph N. Jessop. It’s not uncommon in the polygamous sect for relatives to marry the same man.
The names of the children, ranging from 4 to 11 years old, weren’t disclosed.
Barlow says one of the three boys who survived was the son of Joseph N. Jessop.
1:42 p.m.
Authorities say searchers have found the body of a sixth hiker killed in flash flooding that swept through a narrow canyon at Utah’s Zion National Park.
Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said crews discovered the body downstream of Keyhole Canyon on Wednesday, the same day another victim was found. The bodies of three men and one woman were found Tuesday, and searchers are looking for one more person.
The group of seven people in their 40s and 50s from California and Nevada set out Monday, before park officials closed canyons due to flooding.
Park rangers say the group was told about the danger of flash flooding before they entered Keyhole Canyon, but there was no way to warn them once the fast-moving waters began to rise.
Rangers say they don’t judge visitors’ technical ability and let them decide whether to go.
1:02 p.m.
One of the children who survived deadly flash flooding in a small polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border told an official he escaped by cutting through an air bag, climbing out a window and jumping off the roof of a vehicle.
Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who traveled to the community of Hildale, told The Associated Press that the boy appeared traumatized when he met with him briefly Tuesday.
At least 12 people died when two vehicles were swept away by raging floodwaters Monday. Three survived, including the boy, and one child remains missing.
Cox says the boy he spoke with “was still very shaken, as you can imagine, because it was a little surreal to him and everyone.”
Cox says the boy’s mother and several siblings died in the flooding.
12:50 p.m.
The Utah National Guard and a federal search team are looking for a missing boy who was among 16 people caught in flash flooding in a small community on the Utah-Arizona border, leaving at least a dozen dead.
Brian Anderton with the Salt Lake Regional Incident Management Team said Wednesday that they are focusing on the area closest to where two vehicles carrying the women and children were swept away Monday. They are doing a second more systematic sweep using four dogs.
The federal team has previously combed through the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina.
He said local crews are searching farther downstream. Bodies recovered Tuesday were found as far as 5 miles away. Three children survived the flooding.
This item has been corrected to show that the federal search team looking for the missing boy is one of 28 federal search teams and is the only one participating.
12:23 p.m.
Authorities say searchers have found the body of a fifth hiker killed in flash flooding that swept through a narrow canyon at Utah’s Zion National Park.
Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said Wednesday that crews found the body downstream of Keyhole Canyon. The bodies of three men and one woman were found Tuesday, and searchers are still looking for two others.
The group of seven people in their 40s and 50s from California and Nevada set out Monday, before park officials closed canyons due to flooding.
Park rangers say the group was told about the danger of flash flooding before they entered the canyon, but there was no way to warn them once the fast-moving waters began to rise.
Rangers say they don’t judge visitors’ technical ability and let them decide whether to go.
11:30 a.m.
Rangers say at least four hikers killed in flash flooding in Utah’s Zion National Park were told about the danger before they entered a narrow slot canyon, but there was no way to warn them once the fast-moving waters began to rise.
Park Ranger Therese Picard said Wednesday that while rangers ask detailed questions and give several weather warnings before handing out permits, they don’t judge visitors’ technical ability and let them decide whether to go.
She says the group was told Monday morning that flash-flood danger was probable, a warning that rangers give almost every day during monsoon season.
Crews are still searching for three people but haven’t been able to reach the canyon as flooding danger persists.
The deaths came after 12 people died when floodwaters Monday swept away two vehicles on the Utah-Arizona border, about 20 miles south of the park.
10:22 a.m.
Officials at Utah’s Zion National Park say a group of hikers reported to rangers that seven people they passed in a narrow slot canyon just before a flash flood may have been caught in the fast-moving waters.
The park said in a news release and press conference Wednesday that searchers are still looking for three missing from the seven-person group after the bodies of three men and one woman were found Tuesday.
Officials say the group got a permit to hike the small Keyhole Canyon at 7:40 a.m. Monday before canyons were closed due to flood warnings issued at 2:22 p.m. Six of the hikers were from California and one from Nevada and all in their 40s and 50s.
The deaths came after 12 people died when fast-moving floodwaters on Monday swept away two vehicles on the Utah-Arizona border, about 20 miles south of the park.
9:45 a.m.
Officials at Zion National Park in southern Utah are expected to speak to reporters Wednesday about four hikers found dead and three still missing after heavy rains sent flash floods coursing through a narrow slot canyon.
Authorities say the group of seven people from California and Nevada in their 40s and 50s set out to hike the small Keyhole Canyon on Monday, before park officials closed slot canyons due to flooding that evening.
The bodies of three men and one woman were found Tuesday, though continued danger of flash floods prevented crews from immediately recovering them.
The deaths came after 12 people died when fast-moving floodwaters on Monday swept away two vehicles on the Utah-Arizona border, about 20 miles south of the park.
7 a.m.
Authorities are searching for four people still missing after flash flooding killed 12 people in a Utah-Arizona border community and four others in nearby Zion National Park.
The flooding hit Monday evening and washed away a van and SUV carrying three women and 13 children in a small, polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border.
Three people survived, 12 were confirmed dead and crews are searching for the 16th person.
Some 20 miles to the north at Zion National Park, the same storm system sent flash floods coursing through a narrow slot canyon, killing four people and leaving three others missing.
No surprise here, some turds are naturally sinkers.
Yep, I shed a few tears when I read that terrible news. I’m sure Jolly Roger will put on sackcloth and sit in ashes weeping for this great loss. I’m sure the rest of the trenchers will also do the same and fast for forty days and nights. 😉
LOL, and this one was naturally flushed away by Mother Nature herself.
It’s a shame that innocent people also died, but the pig’s death can be regarded as a silver lining.
LOL… stinkers too, Henry. 😀
Would we have even heard of the loss of life in this flood had a pig not been a victim?
Yes, it was ‘news’ before the the little piggy went home. The press has to have something to sensationalize, and death is their drug of choice.
They also like to post photos of people in nineteenth-century attire that marry their own cousins and whatnot.
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I’m sure he had a “huge compassion” for the harmless drug offenders he arrested (among other “criminals” who never violated anyone else’s rights) and delivered to a system for incarceration in hellish prisons. He really felt bad for them, but he had no choice because he was “just following orders” and didn’t have the option of seeking honest work.
Looks like karma caught up with another one of these thugs and turned him into a “good pig.”
‘Just following orders’… the oldest excuse in the book. (or is it ‘I forgot’?)
“… known for his efforts working with local youth both while on and off duty and had a “huge compassion for humanity.”
COMPASSION???
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! RLMAO!!!!!
Has anyone checked to see if this is satire?