A Fifteen-Foot Wall of Water Comes Down Bright Angel Creek at the Bottom of the Grand Canyon — Two Dead, About Fifteen Unaccounted For, 62 Airlifted Out, and Arizona's Delegation Answers in One Voice Across Party Lines
At about 2:30 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday, August 29, 2026, a flash flood tore down Bright Angel Creek at the bottom of Grand Canyon National Park, in the corridor that runs past Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail — the most heavily used inner-canyon route in the park, and one of the hardest places in the United States to evacuate. Hikers described a fifteen-foot wall of water arriving with almost no warning. One evacuee, Erica Viola, told ABC News: "We just heard people yell, 'Run, run, run!' And there's 40 of us running through this deep, muddy water, trying to make it to the bridge. Once we got to the bridge, that's when this 15-foot wall of water came through." The flood destroyed a footbridge, knocked out the trans-canyon water pipeline that serves visitors on the rim, and closed Phantom Ranch and the North Kaibab Trail. Because there is no road to the canyon floor, the rescue had to be flown: the National Park Service and the Arizona Department of Public Safety airlifted at least 62 people out over Saturday night and Sunday. By Monday, August 31, the Park Service had confirmed two deaths and said roughly fourteen to fifteen people "may be missing or unaccounted for," and was asking anyone who knew of hikers or backpackers in the Bright Angel Creek corridor on August 29 to call in. A flash flood watch remained in effect, with more monsoon storms forecast over already-saturated ground. The political reaction was notable mainly for what it was not: a fight. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Ruben Gallego — all Democrats — and Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican whose politics overlap with theirs on almost nothing, all issued statements within roughly 24 hours of one another, each thanking the rescuers and directing people to the Park Service. Gallego, whose statement also addressed tribal constituents, said the flooded area does not include the Havasupai reservation and that no tribe members had been reported missing. Rep. Eli Crane, whose district contains the park, had toured both rims with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on August 28 — the day before the flood — for a briefing that included, among other things, strain on the park's core water infrastructure.
“A terrifying and tragic situation.”