Chance for more rain makes rescue operations perilous after Grand Canyon flooding

Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Chance for more rain makes rescue operations perilous after Grand Canyon flooding Ongoing rain chances are making search and rescue operations at the Grand Canyon more hazardous following Saturday's deadly flooding. National Chance for more rain makes rescue operations perilous after Grand Canyon flooding September 1, 20264:46 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Chris Clements , A Martínez Chance for more rain makes rescue operations perilous after Grand Canyon flooding Listen &middot; 3:07 3:07 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5950477/nx-s1-9908759" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Ongoing rain chances are making search and rescue operations at the Grand Canyon more hazardous following Saturday's deadly flooding. Sponsor Message Transcript A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Officials in Arizona say two people died in the flash floods that swept Grand Canyon National Park over the weekend, with 82 hikers rescued over the course of a couple of days. At first, more than a dozen were missing, but last night, that number dropped to one. Chris Clements of member station KNAU in Flagstaff, Arizona, is reporting on this. Chris, let's start off with the number of missing people going down because it sounds like good news for the families. CHRIS CLEMENTS, BYLINE: Yeah. That's right. They told reporters that on Sunday, investigators were still searching for 15 people who were either missing or unaccounted for. Then that number dropped to 12 as of yesterday morning as they worked through more leads and more tips from the public. And by the time of this press conference, there was just one missing person left. However, it's important to say that these are permitted hikers in the Grand Canyon. In other words, those missing people could be tracked by rescue workers because their names were on paper somewhere. But there could be day hikers who are missing, but officials just don't know about them yet. MARTÍNEZ: All right, so it's a little bit more nuanced then. CLEMENTS: That's right. And, you know, of course, a search is still underway for the last missing person that officials know of. There's been consistent rain starting this past Friday that's really made it harder for emergency responders to do their jobs. Incident commander Dave Black talked about that. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DAVE BLACK: The weather has hurt our efforts. It has not stopped raining since this happened, on and off, and has delayed recovery efforts for the ones we know about. MARTÍNEZ: So, Chris, tell us how all this got started. CLEMENTS: Yeah. So it all goes back to Saturday afternoon. A thunderstorm hovering over the canyon dropped a half inch to an inch of rain in 30 minutes, and that rain fell on a section of the park that really doesn't see too much, including an area that was burned by a huge wildfire last year. So this incredibly steep, rocky area became inundated with water, which then flowed into a creek bed, which then flowed into the Colorado River. The flash flood obliterated bridges and destroyed a big section of a critical water pipeline that brings water to businesses and hotels on the south rim. And those, of course, are now under water restrictions. MARTÍNEZ: Wow. Sounds like a catastrophe. CLEMENTS: Officials at the press conference mentioned an emergency system that hikers and river rafters can use in the canyon. So this sends out alert text messages to satellite phones. This system has been around since 2024, and they say there's evidence it may have helped people in the lead-up to the flood. An emergency management official for a nearby county said that the system sent out six alerts to satellite phones shortly before the worst of the storm. That was on Saturday. Of course, this system isn't a prediction tool. They said it's really just for when there's already demonstrated flooding. MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Chris Clements of member station KNAU. Thank you, Chris. CLEMENTS: Thanks so much. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone who makes such an offer or request is not an NPR employee and does not represent NPR. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{310:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(769),o(155),o(176),o(93),o(447),o(254),o(128),o(130),o(754),o(175),o(755),o(255),o(78),o(773)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},782:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(310)}},[[782,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();