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.
Parth Desai was hiking through a narrow passage in Bright Angel Canyon with a group of fellow physicians and a park ranger when the downpour started.
“We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere,” he said.
Later, as they made their way toward Phantom Ranch, a colleague shouted “Up, Up, Up, Up!” as a 1m debris wall headed towards them and they ran up into a patch of cacti, he said. They were finally rescued by helicopter that evening after making it to the Phantom Ranch area, he said.
About 1cm to 2.5cm 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 1,828m.
More rain and thunderstorms were possible for the area into Monday.
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