Monday, August 18, 2008

Grand Canyon Flooding Forces Evacuations, Searches Rescuers in northern Arizona are searching for campers missing in an area of Grand Canyon National Park that was overwhelmed by floodwaters over the weekend. Authorities resumed searches and evacuations this morning after suspending them last night because of darkness and dangerous terrain, Gerry Blair, a spokesman for the Coconino County Sheriff's Office, said in a telephone interview. Fewer than 20 people, all of them tourists, are missing, Blair said. The Redlands Earthen Dam broke after storms on Aug. 16, sending floodwaters down Cataract Canyon into Havasu Canyon, an area about 75 miles (121 kilometers) west of Grand Canyon Village on the park's South Rim, the sheriff's office said in a statement. The flooding forced the evacuation of about 170 people by helicopter, including some of about 200 visitors at a campground and residents of Supai Village, a community of about 400 Havasupai Indians in the canyon. The area, in the Havasupai Indian Reservation, is a popular destination for campers and hikers because of its waterfalls....

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