Tourists Evacuated From Flash Flood

Torrential rains caused flash flooding in a canyon on an Indian reservation on Sunday, forcing helicopters to begin airlifting hundreds of tourists and residents to safety.

Some 350 to 400 tourists were vacationing in Cataract Canyon on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, just southwest of the Grand Canyon, when three to four inches of rain soaked the campground within 2-1/2 hours Sunday morning, authorities said.

Most were camping and attending the reservation’s annual Peach Festival.

About a dozen homes were flooded with a foot or two of water, said Bob McNichols, a Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent. About 100 of the 600 or so tribal members who live in the canyon were expected to be evacuated, as the flooding knocked out both water and sewer utilities.

Six National Guard, law-enforcement and tribe-chartered helicopters were being used to fly visitors and residents out of the canyon. The airlifts were planned until dark and would resume today.