Grand Canyon National Park officials say an early warning for flash floods along the popular North Kaibab Trail went down Saturday, just as waters raged through the inner canyon.
The federal government installed a series of water gauges along the creek following last year’s 145,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim.
The blaze increased flood risk throughout the Bright Angel corridor, which is often bustling with backpackers and hikers.
“That system started to alert us of rising waters. And then shortly after that system went offline as the water progressed down the creek and picked up speed and destructive force,” Grand Canyon National Park deputy superintendent Brian Drapeaux said at a press conference at the South Rim Monday.
“The only way we really knew [about flooding] was as the reports started to come in to either 911 through dispatch, and what folks were seeing on the ground and reporting to us," Drapeaux said.
Drapeaux said debris may have knocked the system out, and they plan to investigate.
Coconino County Emergency Management says National Weather Service alerts weren’t impacted and were received by those in remote areas of the park throughout the weekend.
“We did send out six messages through that system at the request of both the park service and the National Weather Service starting shortly after noon,” Coconino County Emergency Management Director Tim Carter said at the press conference. “We received some information through Facebook posts, people posting that they have been receiving those messages.”
Through that system, meteorologists at an office in Bellemont can direct Coconino County to issue alerts. The messages are delivered to people in the remote inner canyon via satellite because cell service there is limited.
The flooding killed at least two people and forced more than 80 to evacuate the inner canyon.
Crews continue to search for one hiker who remains missing.
