Flood Evacuees Rushed To Shelter
Redlands Dam Breached; Rescuers Mobilize
POSTED: 2:39 pm MST August 17,
2008
UPDATED: 8:17 pm MST August 17,
2008
SUPAI, Ariz. -- Scores of campers and residents caught in flood waters at the Grand Canyon were rescued Sunday after an earthen dam weakened by heavy rains broke 45 miles upstream from the village of Supai, said Maureen Oltrogge of the Grand Canyon National Park.The Redlands Dam west of Valle along Cataract Creek ruptured around 6 a.m. Sunday, triggering flooding near Supai, at the bottom of the canyon, Oltrogge said. Supai is home to about 400 Havasupai Reservation tribal members. The town is located about 75 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village, a popular tourist area on the canyon's south rim.There was some flooding in Supai and rescuers were trying to find an estimated 247 campers at a nearby campground, Oltrogge said. At 1 p.m., 147 campers were accounted for, she said.There were no confirmed reports of damage in the village as of Sunday night and no one was injured, authorities said.The National Guard provided three Black Hawk helicopters and the Arizona Department of Public Safety dedicated all four of its helicopters to the rescue efforts, Oltrogge said.Evacuees were being taken to a Red Cross shelter in Peach Springs, about 60 miles southwest of Supai, Oltrogge said. The shelter is located at the Hualapai Tribal gym off Diamond Creek Road in Peach Springs. The shelter will provide an array of support services, including meals, a safe sleeping place and counseling, said Tracey Kiest of the Arizona chapter of the American Red Cross.The road into Havasupai is closed at Route 66 and Indian Road 18 leading into Hualapai Hilltop.Oltrogge said 16 people were left stranded Saturday night on a ledge where Havasu Creek and the Colorado River join after flood waters carried their raft away.Each person was being flown one at a time to the other side of the Colorado River where they will board a helicopter and be flown to the Hualapai Hilltop. Those evacuees will also be transported to the American Red Cross shelter in Peach Springs.Officers, sheriff's deputies and rescuers from eight public safety agencies are working to coordinate the evacuation in Supai Canyon, said Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil.National Park Service employees are trying to contact members of rafting parties who have not yet reached the confluence, which is located at about river mile 157, in an effort to inform them of the flooding that has occurred in that area, Pribil said.West-central Coconino County had been under a flash flood warning early Sunday."This started on Friday with heavy rainfall in the county," said CBS 5 meteorologist Steve Garry. He said between 4 and 7 inches of rain has inundated the area since then.Supai police reported foot bridges and hiking trails were washed out and trees uprooted.The threat of severe storms continued to plague central Coconino County Sunday afternoon, meteorologists said.
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