More than 20 hikers who visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona are missing after flash floods struck the area beginning at around 2:30 p.m. local time, the Daily Mail reported Sunday evening. Authorities are searching for the missing hikers and are asking the public to help identify those who were on the trails they had been hiking.
The Grand Canyon
(Photo: Shutterstock , Galyna Andrushko)
More than 62 people were evacuated from the area Saturday because of the flooding. All pedestrian bridges crossing Bright Angel Creek were destroyed by the unusual weather after the creek overflowed its banks.
The U.S. National Park Service said in a statement: “Grand Canyon National Park crews, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, continue evacuation and incident response efforts and are working to locate individuals who may have been in the affected area.”
Videos from the scene showed mudslides sweeping through the area as hikers filmed them from a suspension bridge.
There is currently no estimated timetable for reopening the blocked roads, and additional areas in the inner canyon may also have to be closed.
More than 60 people were evacuated from Phantom Ranch, which has a historic canteen and dorms, and is a common spot for rafters to get off and on the river. More evacuations were planned during Sunday, the park said. No injuries have been reported.
Erica Viola said she was at Bright Angel Campground when the rain started Saturday afternoon, and she and about 50 other hikers watched the creek rise and then debris start to flow by, including what looked like a bunkhouse. The group was taken by helicopter to safety, ending her adventure two days early, she said.
About half an inch to 1 inch (1 centimeter to 2.5 centimeters) of rain fell within about 30 minutes in the rocky area where there's a steep drop in elevation, said National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Johndrow in Flagstaff.
"Most of it ran off instantly," Johndrow said.
He said the flooding happened on the north side of the Grand Canyon, where Bright Angel Creek comes from the North Rim down to the Colorado River, dropping around 6,000 feet (1,828 meters).
More rain and thunderstorms were possible for the area into Monday.
First published: 00:17, 08.31.26