3 injured in Zion National Park flash flood

[UtahAdventureGuide]

3 injured in Zion National Park flash flood

July 25th, 2010 @ 6:28pm

ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah (AP) -- Zion National Park officials say three men who were swept away by a flash flood in a canyon were able to signal for help and be rescued.

Zion spokesman Ron Terry says the men from the Las Vegas area were hiking in Spry Canyon on Saturday when about an inch of rain fell in less than 30 minutes.

Terry says all three men were washed over a 40-foot drop and two of them went over another 60-foot plunge as the water rushed through the canyon walls. One of the men used a headlamp to signal a distress call and an off-duty park ranger spotted the flashing light.

Two of the men were flown to a hospital in St. George. Terry said their names were not being released and had no word on their condition on Sunday.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[Scott P]

Out of curiousity, what was the flash flood forecast at the time?

[Sombeech]

oldno7 took a photo of the rain that most likely got these guys:

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...ion-Storm-Cell

[trackrunner]

Out of curiosity, what was the flash flood forecast at the time?

earlier in the week when I looked I saw a 30% or greater chance of thunderstorms.

this weekend the NWS flash flood potential has been moderate = localized slot canyons . . . may experience flash flooding

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecasts/di...=RRA&version=2

[tanya]

What I heard live was flash flood warnings until 7pm.

My 13 year old was wondering what was up with the radio. We were driving at the time when the warnings came out.


It rained really hard... crazy hard for a short time, but its been rain-like weather for a couple of days. Certainly not weather to do a slot canyon in!


Bo stayed home and finished our book today though! YEAH!!! Someone else rescued them.

[Ryebrye]

I blame the backcountry desk!

(Do I get points for being the first to point out that the backcountry desks is flawed in this thread?)

[Bo_Beck]

I blame the backcountry desk!

(Do I get points for being the first to point out that the backcountry desks is flawed in this thread?)

Wow! Did I really read this right? Nah! Just a "pigment" of my imagination!

[Ryebrye]

Wow! Did I really read this right? Nah! Just a "pigment" of my imagination!

Without more details, I can't fully blame the BC desk. :) The blame I would put on them would be a late start - if they opened the desk an hour or two earlier, took a three hour break during the middle of the day, then kept it open an hour later, I think things would be much improved. (Easier to get earlier starts).

Are there any more details on this incident posted? What part of the canyon they were in? What time they started? ... etc?

[nelsonccc]

It was crazy in Zion this past saturday. We were in Englestead and reached Oderville at about 2. We didn't have a permit to go down so we started hiking up. About halfway to Birch it really started to rain and I mean it really started to rain. Lots of thunder. When we reached Birch there were two rangers (one was really cute) that were trying to get radio contact to see if they should go down orderville. They were told no, so they started to hike out with us. BY the time we reached Wild Wind Hollow Orderville was flowing at about 1cfs. 10 minutes later as we headed up the Orderville entrance it was picking up flow. At the top of the first little ridge you could hear Orderville running down below. It rained on us for about 3 hours total and it got very cold with the wind and thunder.

As we drove down we could see that Keyhole was flowing and then Pine was flowing. On our way out we saw a helicopter come in and hover over the last two canyon rappels of Spry. It was there for our entire drive down the switchbacks and there was a ranger parked at the spry exit. It didn't look good. When we drove over the virgin in was roaring.

Exciting stuff!

[tanya]

Glad you got out of there before it got ugly big guy.

[Scott Card]

all three men were washed over a 40-foot drop and two of them went over another 60-foot plunge as the water rushed through the canyon walls.

And they survived????

[ratagonia]

Looking ugly over that way right now. Might be some more Sports Action.

Tom

[tanya]

I would never ever ever ever go near water again if I took that plunge!!!!!

[trackrunner]

found this link on the ACA forums. thought I'd cross post. interesting first hand comments that have not been verified.

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...ional-park6313

link to ACA thread
http://canyoneering.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4203

[canyonguru]

come to find out one of the guys in the canyon works with my wife at station casinos here in las vegas. I don't have great details about the flood but he said that it striped off his shoes and shirt, and everything he was wearing. he also said that all he had on when he stood up was his shorts and socks. After the Heli picked up the other two hikers two SAR hiked out with him in the dark. He said it took 2.5 hours get get down to the road. I am not going to release his name due to privacy reasons but it sounds like it was a wild ride.

[Don]

all three men were washed over a 40-foot drop and two of them went over another 60-foot plunge as the water rushed through the canyon walls.

Holy shit! Amazing they survived. I'd love to hear more if someone who knows them can get them to tell the story here...

[blueeyes]

Holy shit! Amazing they survived. I'd love to hear more if someone who knows them can get them to tell the story here...

X2

[trackrunner]

video of the flood language warning.

[Scott Card]

Well played to find a safe spot when the rain started and not try to out run the thing.

[Udink]

That video was intense. It would be truly awesome to watch something like that from a safe(ish) vantage point.