Sister says hiker still missing in Grand Canyon flash flood amid intense search

SUPAI, Ariz. (AP) — Search and rescue crews at Grand Canyon Nationwide Park have been looking for an Arizona lady almost two days after she was swept right into a creek throughout a flash flood, the girl’s sister stated on social media Saturday.

Chenoa Nickerson of Gilbert was mountain climbing in Havasu Creek, a couple of half-mile (800 meters) from the place it meets up with the Colorado River, when the flash flood struck Thursday within the early afternoon.

The Nationwide Park Service stated the 33-year-old stayed in a single day at a campground close to the village of Supai on the Havasupai reservation, deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon.

The flood trapped a number of hikers within the space above and under Beaver Falls, one in every of a sequence of normally blue-green waterfalls that draw vacationers from around the globe to the Havasupai Tribe’s reservation. The world is vulnerable to flooding that turns its iconic waterfalls chocolate brown.

Different hikers made it to the village, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the campground, the place they awaited helicopter rides. Gov. Katie Hobbs has activated the Arizona Nationwide Guard, together with Blackhawk helicopters, to assist evacuate hikers from the village.

Tamara Morales, a sister to the lacking hiker, famous the Nationwide Guard deployment and praised rescue crews with the Nationwide Park Service for “navigating extremely harmful terrain with extraordinarily restricted strategies of communication whereas leaving no stone unturned.”

“We’re profoundly grateful for you and totally acknowledge that you’re presently defying the inconceivable,” Morales stated on Fb.

The Havasupai Tribe’s reservation is likely one of the most distant within the continental U.S., accessible solely by foot, mule or helicopter. The Tribal Council closed the steep, winding path that results in the reservation after the flooding and requested guests with permits by means of Sunday to not come.

Rochelle Tilousi, a Havasupai tribal member within the Grand Canyon space, stated helicopter evacuations started after bridges have been washed away, and rescuers fanned out amid a sequence of towering waterfalls.

“I do know that our vacationer workplace, some native males, first responders … are all out towards Mooney Falls, out towards the Colorado River, on foot, which can be additionally checking,” she stated.

Morales posted a photograph of her smiling sister on the base of steep desert river canyon, wearing athletic clothes worn when she disappeared, with what gave the impression to be an digital wristwatch or health system on her wrist.

The Nationwide Park Service deployed motorized boats on the Colorado River, downstream from Havasu Creek and floodwaters that swept away Nickerson. Grand Canyon Nationwide Park spokeswoman Joelle Baird stated search and rescue efforts additionally included floor groups and aerial patrols.

Abbie Fink, a spokeswoman for the Havasupai Tribe, stated flooding prolonged to the tribal village and it was inconceivable to instantly assess the extent of injury to creekside campgrounds as a result of a connecting path was impassible.

On Saturday, helicopters resumed the gradual evacuation of about 60 vacationers. As hikers emerged, they posted pictures of thundering floodwaters and a washed-out footbridge.

Reservations for guests have been suspended by means of Sunday, Fink added.

“We kindly ask on your persistence as we see to the well being and security of the vacationers and the Tribal members,” the tribe’s tourism division stated through Fb.