Grand Canyon Flash Flood Death Toll Rises to Two as Search for Last Missing Hiker Continues

WHAT HAPPENED

A sudden, violent flash flood ripped through the bottom of the Grand Canyon on Saturday, August 29, destroying footbridges, cutting off the park's water supply and triggering a mass evacuation from Phantom Ranch. Roughly 1 to 2.5 centimeters of rain fell in just 30 minutes over steep terrain, sending a wall of water, mud and debris surging down Bright Angel Creek toward the Colorado River.

THE DEATH TOLL AND SEARCH

What was first reported as one death and up to 20 people missing has since been narrowed considerably. Park officials have recovered two bodies, identified as 46-year-old John Giusti and 42-year-old Brent Rosenkranz, both friends from Granbury, Texas. Through hundreds of phone calls and license plate checks, the National Park Service brought the unaccounted-for list down from around 20 to 15, then to 12, and finally to a single remaining missing person.

THE RESCUE EFFORT

An air evacuation operation flew dozens of people out of Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail in the days after the flood, with 82 people rescued in total, some airlifted directly from the Bright Angel Creek area and the Phantom Ranch and Cottonwood campgrounds.

THE DAMAGE

The flood destroyed nearly all of the footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek and damaged as much as 40 percent of the Transcanyon Waterline, the 12.5-mile pipeline that supplies nearly all of the park's drinking water. Overnight stays at lodges and hotels within Grand Canyon National Park remain suspended as a result.

WHAT'S NEXT

Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground and parts of the North Kaibab Trail remain closed with no confirmed reopening date. Officials have warned that continued monsoon storms could bring further flash flooding to an already heavily damaged canyon floor while repair crews work to restore the water system.