Sisters, 3 and 7, die amid flash flooding in canyon

Two sisters aged 3 and 7 died in flash flooding that sent torrents of water roaring into a narrow canyon in the Utah desert, authorities said Tuesday.

At least 21 others escaped the flooding Monday afternoon in Little Wildhorse Canyon, where the curving sandstone walls are so narrow at points that hikers must turn sideways to walk through.

The girls were hiking with their father and mother when the storm hit.

The father found his 7-year-old daughter’s body before authorities were called to the scene, according to Emery County Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson Janalee Luke. Their names were not immediately released.

The family from the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan was camping in the area for Mother’s Day, the Deseret News reported.

Democrats are making new moves toward a virtual presidential nominating convention this August, with a top party committee voting Tuesday to grant convention organizers in Milwaukee the authority to design an event that won’t require delegates to attend in person amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic National Committee’s influential Rules & Bylaws Committee approved a plan that party Chairman Tom Perez said gives organizers “the tools necessary to adapt and plan” for a gathering and “ensure that every delegate is able to accomplish their official business without putting their own health at risk — whether that be participating in person or by other means to allow for social distancing.”

Under the resolution, the party’s convention committee will be able to determine the convention’s final dates, along with its “format, voting mechanisms, structure and other logistical aspects.” The proposal now goes to the full DNC membership, with the body expected to approve it in a mail ballot.

The expected action underscores how deeply COVID-19 has upended the 2020 presidential election, potentially forcing one or both major parties to dramatically alter their conventions in ways that not even the Civil War required in 1864. And it raises the possibility even further that Joe Biden will be nominated as his party’s standard-bearer without the traditional roll call vote from thousands of delegates across 57 U.S. states and territories.

“Our No. 1 proposal is for the health and safety of the American people,” Perez said, emphasizing that final decisions haven’t been made.