More storms possible at Grand Canyon where flash flood killed two

The news came as search and recovery efforts continued for about 15 people still missing.

Weather forecasters warned rain and thunderstorms could bring more flooding to the popular tourist attraction from where scores of visitors were evacuated following the storm-fuelled flood on Saturday in Bright Angel Creek.

The deluge also seriously damaged the only water pipeline in the canyon, leading to emergency water restrictions for year-round residents, and tourists have been barred from staying at lodges and hotels inside the park.

Video from the area showed a force of muddy, debris-filled floodwaters carrying what appeared to be remnants of a bunkhouse and rocks through the canyon.

Four “waves of rainfall” over two creek drainages during the weekend resulted in rapid onset flash flooding, the National Weather Service said.

The National Park Service says the area gets less than 10ins (25cm) of rain per year on average.

Visiting the Grand Canyon — a crown jewel of the national park system — can be particularly dangerous in the summer because of the risk of flash flooding that accompanies the monsoon, or rainy season. Clear days can give way quickly to thunderstorms and downpours.

The first three waves of rain “primed the drainages and already had creeks flowing at minor levels” by the time a fourth wave arrived, the weather service said in a statement.

Rain also fell on part of the Dragon Bravo fire scar, a burn area left by a lightning-caused wildfire in July 2025 that torched more than 227 square miles (590 sq km). It burned for days before exploding into a fast-moving conflagration that forced evacuations and consumed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, some cabins and other structures.

“With it being in the location that it is, it’s only going to add to our concern with flash flooding,” Paige Konieczny, a meteorologist with the weather service in Flagstaff, Arizona, said.

More thunderstorms and showers are expected on Monday, she said.

The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered on Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River, the National Park Service said.

At least one other body has been recovered, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the Grand Canyon National Park.

More than 60 people have been airlifted from the depths of the canyon.

The park service asked anyone with details about hikers or campers still unaccounted for to come forward with information.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety helped with evacuations on Sunday.

“My heart is with the families and loved ones of every person unaccounted for after the flash flooding at the Grand Canyon,” Arizona governor Katie Hobbs posted on Sunday.

The state department of emergency and military affairs was co-ordinating with the park service and county emergency management officials in search and recovery efforts, Ms Hobbs said.

Parth Desai was hiking through a narrow passage in Bright Angel Canyon with fellow physicians and a park ranger when heavy rain started falling on Saturday.

“We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere,” he said.

Later, as they made their way towards Phantom Ranch, a colleague shouted “up, up, up, up” as a four-foot (1m) debris wall headed towards them and they ran up into a patch of cacti, he said.

They were rescued by helicopter late on Saturday after making it to the Phantom Ranch area, he said.

In August 2024, a woman was swept away in a flash flood while hiking in the Havasupai region of the Grand Canyon. Chenoa Nickerson, 33, was found dead after a three-day search.

Torrents of water wiped out footbridges over Bright Angel Creek that runs into the Colorado River, widening the bed and extending an existing river rapid or creating a new one.

The flood was a major blow to an enduring effort to modernise the pipeline that serves six million visitors a year and roughly 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.