Authorities at Zion National Park were still searching for an Arizona woman who vanished after flash flooding, the park said, and iconic sections of the park remained closed Sunday.
Late Friday, the National Park Service received a report that Jetal Agnihotri, a 29-year-old Tucson, Arizona, resident, was overdue from a trip to The Narrows, an imposing gorge carved by the Virgin River that has rock walls 1,000 feet tall.
More than 20 Zion search and rescue team members were working in the Virgin River area searching for Agnihotri, according to NPS.
“Park rangers and other members of the Zion Search and Rescue Team responded quickly to this event, and we are continuing our efforts,” Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park superintendent, said Saturday.
Park rangers received an initial report Friday afternoon of “multiple hikers being swept off their feet by a flash flood” in The Narrows and sent rangers to respond. They discovered one injured hiker who had been swept downstream and several others who were isolated by high water on high ground and assisted them to safety.
After all hikers were thought to be accounted for, NPS later received a report from Agnihotri’s friends that she was missing, the service said. Search-and-rescue teams from Washington County, Utah, are assisting, local outlets reported.
The missing hiker’s brother, Pujan Agnihotri, told KSLTV that his sister does not know how to swim.
Zion National Park is about 20 miles north of the Utah-Arizona border and is known for its narrow canyons and massive sandstone cliffs. Flash flooding has been a problem in the park.
DEVELOPING INTO THE EVENING:For an update later tonight, sign up for the Evening Briefing.
The Narrows is a specific hiking route that includes long periods of walking through water. Zion National Park closes The Narrows when the currents get too strong.
From July to September, torrential rains can wash out trails, parking lots, structures and debris, causing damage and posing dangers to visitors with sometimes little warning.
Flash floods can easily sneak up on hikers, particularly in narrow canyons like those on The Narrows hike, according to park spokesperson Amanda Rowland.
In Utah, flooding at Arches National Park Saturday closed trails in the city on Sunday as crews worked to assess the damage. In New Mexico, officials at Carlsbad Caverns National Park said about 150 tourists were evacuated late Saturday after being stranded by flash flooding.
Several rivers and streams in New Mexico have nearly reached historic flood levels not seen in almost 60 years because of recent heavy rainfall.
For Nevada, recent storms have given the Las Vegas metro area its wettest monsoon season in 10 years.
“Most locales in Arizona, New Mexico, the California deserts, southern Neu76tovada, and a few other scattered areas have measured at least 200 percent of normal (rainfall) over the past 2 months,” the U.S. Drought Monitor said in a report earlier this month.
Contributing: K. Sophie Will, St. Georgie Spectrum & Daily News; Melissa Yeager andHaleigh Kochanski, The Arizona Republic; The Associated Press
Discussion about this post