5 kids among 9 relatives killed in flash flooding
TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. — Five children were among the nine people killed in a flash flood at an Arizona swimming hole during the weekend, and all were part of an extended family, authorities said Monday.
Three generations of the family were gathered Saturday at the swimming spot about 100 miles northeast of Phoenix, police said. Torrential rains in the fire-scarred mountains several miles away unleashed 6-foot-high floodwaters and swept away the victims, who ranged in age from 3 to 57.
Searchers looked Monday for a 27-year-old man who was the only person still missing from the group of 14 family members who gathered at the normally tranquil swimming hole in the Tonto National Forest north of Payson. Authorities initially had said they were looking for a 13-year-old boy but later discovered he was among the victims and the older man was missing.
About 40 volunteer workers and four search dogs were looking for the man, Gila County Sheriff J. Adam Shepherd said.
Disa Alexander was hiking to the swimming area Saturday where Ellison Creek and East Verde River converge when the water suddenly surged. Video she posted to social media showed torrents of water sloshing through jagged canyons carved in Arizona’s signature red rock.
Those killed included five children — 2-year-old Erica Raya-Garcia; Emily Garnica, 3; Mia Garnica, 5; Danial Garnica, 7; and Jonathan Leon, 13. Also killed were Javier Raya-Garcia, 19; Selia Garcia Castaneda, 57; Maribel Raya-Garcia, 24, and Maria Raya-Garcia, 27.
A thunderstorm that dropped up 1½ inches of rain in an hour struck about 8 miles upstream along Ellison Creek, which quickly flooded the narrow canyon where the swimmers were.
While Arizona is known for its dryness, it gets bursts of heavy rains during the summer monsoon season. The thunderstorm was located in a remote area that had been burned by a recent wildfire, Water Wheel Fire and Medical District Fire Chief Ron Sattelmaier said.
“If it’s an intense burn, it creates a glaze on the surface that just repels water,” said Darren McCollum, a meteorologist
Crowds looking to beat the Phoenix metro area’s heat often head to the small creeks that flow out of the mountains forming swimming holes and a series of small waterfalls. But officials warn that visitors need to be aware of the dangers of a flash flood.
“I wish there was a way (to keep) people from getting in there during monsoon season,” Sattelmaier said. “It happens every year.”
Sudden flooding in canyons has been deadly before. In 2015, seven people were killed in Utah’s Zion National Park when they were trapped during a flash flood. In 1997, 11 hikers were killed near Page, Ariz., after a wall of water from a rainstorm miles upstream rushed down.