Family
members
identified
a
hiker
killed
in
weekend
flooding
in
the
Grand
Canyon
as
a
Texas
chiropractor
and
said
two
other
men
who
went
on
their
dream
trip
remain
missing.
John
Giusti
and
his
friends
planned
to
spend
2
nights
at
the
bottom
of
the
canyon
fishing
and
exploring.
They
spoke
to
their
families
Thursday
and
found
their
campsite
Friday.
They
have
not
been
heard
from
since,
the
three
families
said
in
a
joint
statement
released
Monday.
Searchers
on
the
air
and
ground
continue
to
look
for
Brent
Rosenkranz
and
Timothy
Smith,
their
families
said.
Rescue
crews
looking
for
missing
people
have
found
at
least
two
bodies
since
a
major
flash
flood
swept
through
the
Grand
Canyon,
and
forecasters
warned
Monday
that
more
flooding
was
possible
as
heavy
rain
shrouded
the
canyon
walls.
More
than
a
dozen
people
were
missing
following
waves
of
rain
in
the
Bright
Angel
Creek
area
of
Grand
Canyon
National
Park,
which
hosts
4.4
million
visitors
a
year.
Saturday’s
flash
flood
severely
damaged
the
only
water
pipeline
into
the
canyon.
Officials
barred
tourists
from
staying
at
lodges
and
hotels
inside
Grand
Canyon
National
Park
and
issued
emergency
water
restrictions
for
year-round
residents.
The
Flood
Threatened
People
Who
Hike
Far
Into
the
Grand
Canyon
The
flood
happened
deep
in
the
canyon
near
where
the
Colorado
River
flows,
around
popular
lodges
and
camping
areas
where
people
hiking
from
one
rim
of
the
Grand
Canyon
to
the
other
stop
for
the
night.
Scores
of
visitors
had
to
be
evacuated
from
the
area
by
helicopter.
They
talked
of
a
massive
deluge
and
rangers
warning
of
rockslides,
and
saw
huge
pools
of
logs
and
debris
rolling
down
the
river
as
they
stood
nearby
awaiting
rescue.
Hiker
Daniel
Evans
said
it
rained
several
times
before
the
worst
30-minute
downpour
Saturday
afternoon.
He
had
been
planning
to
rest
through
the
hot
day
and
spend
the
night
near
the
hard-hit
Bright
Angel
campground
area.
Earlier,
rangers
told
him
it
looked
to
be
safe.
Then,
as
the
rain
poured,
they
told
him
it
was
time
to
go.
He
thought
of
Nepal
and
the
massive
floods
and
landslides
that
poured
down
mountain
valleys
last
week.
“The
entire
time
it
was
raining
—
the
entire
time
I’m
going
through
all
this
and
packing
—
I’m
just
keeping
my
eyes
upstream,
just
praying
that
a
wall
of
water
isn’t
coming
toward
us,”
Evans
said.
Two
Bodies
Found
and
Yet
More
Missing
The
body
of
a
46-year-old
man
was
recovered
Sunday
evening
near
Crystal
Rapids
along
the
Colorado
River,
the
National
Park
Service
said
without
providing
details.
Crews
Monday
were
trying
to
recover
a
second
body,
park
officials
said
in
an
email
that
provided
no
other
details.
More
than
a
dozen
people
remained
missing
and
officials
urged
anyone
who
was
in
the
park
when
the
flood
happened
to
contact
park
rangers
or
anyone
else
to
let
them
know
they
are
OK.
Late
Monday
morning
more
rain
fell
as
the
state
Department
of
Emergency
and
Military
Affairs
was
coordinating
with
the
park
service
and
county
emergency
management
officials
in
search
and
recovery
efforts.
It’s
‘Monsoon
Season’
in
the
Grand
Canyon
Visiting
the
Grand
Canyon
can
be
particularly
dangerous
in
the
summer
because
of
the
risk
of
flash
flooding
that
accompanies
the
monsoon,
or
rainy
season.
Clear
days
can
quickly
give
way
to
thunderstorms
and
downpours.
Forecasters
warned
more
flooding
could
happen
Monday
or
just
about
any
time
storms
pop
up.
Rain
also
fell
on
part
of
the
Dragon
Bravo
fire
scar,
a
burn
area
left
by
a
lightning-caused
wildfire
in
July
2025.
It
burned
for
days
before
exploding
into
a
fast-moving
conflagration
that
forced
evacuations
and
consumed
the
historic
Grand
Canyon
Lodge,
some
cabins,
and
other
structures.
Without
vegetation,
a
barren
burn
scar
allows
runoff
to
flow
more
quickly.
The
steep,
rocky
nature
of
the
canyon
itself
funnels
water
rapidly.
What
might
be
a
normal
summer
downpour
somewhere
else
can
become
a
charging
wall
of
water
in
the
canyon.
El
Nino
Has
This
Year’s
Monsoons
in
the
Desert
Especially
Intense
This
year’s
heavy
monsoon
rains
are
especially
intense
because
there
is
a
higher
amount
of
water
vapor
in
the
atmosphere,
mostly
because
of
a
strong
El
Nino,
said
A.
Park
Williams,
PhD,
a
hydroclimatologist
at
the
University
of
California
Los
Angeles.
The
natural
warming
of
parts
of
the
Pacific
Ocean
can
warp
weather
globally.
That
extra
water
vapor
in
the
southwest
U.S.
gets
wrung
out
in
the
storm
in
the
form
of
rainfall,
he
said.
The
link
to
human-caused
climate
change
and
the
heavy
Arizona
rain
is
pretty
strong,
said
climate
scientist
Daniel
Swain,
PhD,
of
the
California
Institute
for
Water
Resources.
A
few
months
ago,
Swain
and
colleagues
published
a
study
in
the
journal
Weather
and
Climate
Extremes
finding
that
during
the
summer,
short-term
intense
downpours
in
the
West
—
akin
to
the
one
that
hit
the
Grand
Canyon
—
have
become
10%
stronger
since
2000.
The
Flood
Hits
Water
Supply
in
the
Canyon
The
flood
was
a
major
blow
to
an
enduring
effort
to
modernize
the
water
pipeline
that
serves
visitors
and
the
roughly
1,600
residents
of
Grand
Canyon
Village.
A
$208
million
rehabilitation
of
the
pipeline
and
upgrades
to
the
associated
water
delivery
system
started
in
2023,
with
the
park
service
calling
it
a
crucial
investment
to
ensure
the
park
can
meet
the
needs
of
residents
and
visitors.
The
project
was
expected
to
be
completed
next
year.
While
the
Grand
Canyon
has
large
storage
tanks
for
potable
water
on
the
South
Rim,
they
won’t
be
refilled
while
the
pipeline
is
out
of
service.
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