Two people have died and one remains missing after flash flooding swept through the Grand Canyon, forcing the rescue or evacuation of about 80 hikers and backpackers from the park’s inner canyon.
The deluge struck Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area at about 2.30pm on Saturday, sending torrents of muddy water, boulders and debris towards the Colorado River. Around 15 people were initially believed to be unaccounted for, but officials said on Monday evening that all but one had since been traced.
Incident commander Dave Black said search crews used night-vision equipment and other specialist gear to locate people stranded by the flood. Rangers also checked hiking permits and vehicle registration plates to establish who had been in the affected areas.
“As of right now, they have no reason to believe, from the tips we’ve been through so far, that there’s anybody besides the one” missing person, Mr Black told reporters.
The National Park Service said approximately 82 people had been evacuated, with many airlifted from Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground and nearby sections of the North Kaibab Trail.
One of those killed was John Giusti, a chiropractor from Texas who had travelled to the canyon with two friends on a long-planned hiking and fishing trip. His family said he had been fulfilling a lifelong ambition when he was caught in the flood.
A second body was recovered on Monday, after the body of a man was found near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River the previous evening. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the other victim.
Survivors described a sudden wall of water sweeping through camps and carrying logs, rocks and pieces of infrastructure downstream. Hiker Daniel Evans said he kept watching upstream while packing to leave, fearful that another surge could arrive without warning.
At Phantom Ranch, Gabe Bergemann and his family were among about 60 people ordered to abandon their cabins and cross a footbridge as the water rose. The bridge was destroyed roughly ten minutes after they reached the other side, leaving the group dependent on a later rescue.
“It was like a whirlpool in there, with all the debris circling around, cabins and other equipment from the maintenance work site,” David Gregory, who was with the family, said. “I don’t think we would have made it out alive… I think it would have been game over.”
Grand Canyon flood damages vital water pipeline
The flooding caused extensive damage to the park’s infrastructure, destroying nearly all the footbridges across Bright Angel Creek and closing Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground and the North Kaibab Trail until further notice.
Black and Silver bridges have also been shut, while river traffic in the affected area was temporarily suspended because metal structures and debris had been swept into the Colorado River.
Officials said roughly 40 per cent of the Transcanyon Waterline had been damaged or destroyed. The 12-and-a-half-mile pipeline, built in the 1960s, supplies water to visitors and about 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.
Brian Drapeaux, the park’s deputy superintendent, said sections of the waterline were “battered, bruised and decimated in certain areas”, with miles of pipeline potentially needing to be rebuilt.
The system was already undergoing a $208 million rehabilitation programme, which began in 2023 and had been expected to finish next year. South Rim storage tanks contain enough water for roughly two weeks, but cannot be replenished while the pipeline is out of service.
As a result, the park has introduced emergency water restrictions and barred tourists from staying overnight in lodges and hotels inside the national park.
The National Weather Service said between half an inch and an inch of rain fell in about 30 minutes over the rocky terrain. Much of the water ran off immediately through the steep canyon, where forecasters warned that further thunderstorms could trigger more flooding, debris flows and rockfalls.
The area also includes part of the Dragon Bravo fire scar, left by a wildfire in July 2025. With vegetation stripped away, the burn scar allows rainwater to run off more rapidly into the canyon.
