Coconino County aids in Grand Canyon flood search, recovery

Though last weekend’s flash flood that killed at least two hikers and stranded almost three dozen others happened in Grand Canyon National Park, Coconino County, Ariz. has been a major part of the search, rescue and recovery efforts. 

That cooperation has long been a feature of the intergovernmental relationship near one of the United States’ premier outdoor recreation destinations, one that is vulnerable to flooding during monsoon season. 

“I’m meeting with the superintendent every month, and usually going up there every month,” said Patrice Horstman, chair of the county Board of Supervisors. “Our role with our national park and with the Forest Service starts way before there's an emergency.”

The Colorado River, which runs through the bottom of the canyon, flooded at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 29, most significantly in Bright Angel Canyon, a popular thoroughfare for hikers near the Phantom Ranch. The force of the water and debris also caused significant damage to campsites, bridges and water infrastructure, and 80 people were evacuated by state and federal teams. As of Sept. 2, one person remained unaccounted for, down from an initial count of 30. That person was part of the group that included the two hikers who were killed in the flooding, Horstman said. 

Coconino County Emergency Management Director Tim Carter was embedded in the NPS Emergency Operations Center in the parl. The county’s most direct role in supporting the recovery effort came from the sheriff’s office’s search and rescue team. Several deputies helped coordinate investigations, sorting through tips submitted by family members and permits for backcountry hiking and the license plate numbers on cars in the parking lots to determine who was lost. They also operated drones equipped with technology that could pick up low frequencies emitted by personal devices, including AirTags and anything running a Bluetooth signal.

“They're able to fly that area and that device will pick up those signals, even if they’re covered by debris,” Carter said. “It's definitely still no substitute for the traditional boots-on-the-ground search method, but it helps.”

Carter was recently named Emergency Management Professional of the Year by the Arizona Association of Emergency Managers.

The county’s emergency response had some help from a yearslong effort among the county and several federal agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey, to reach backcountry hikers in the event of an emergency. 

When the National Weather Service issues a flash flood warning that affects the Colorado River, that warning is able to be broadcast to satellite devices, including cell phones, despite a lack of cellular service in most of the canyon. Users must sign up to receive messages from the Grand Canyon River Alerts System, and the county issued 15 such warnings over 48 hours during this most recent flood.

“It is not designed to replace general situational awareness, but we know that there’re a lot more people who aren't necessarily backcountry experts these days. They can have one more tool to receive those life-saving alerts,” Carter said. “We’ve heard anecdotes that people have received these alerts and used that warning to find higher ground before flood waters reached them.”

Year-round, the county’s communications department works to proactively warn aspiring hikers about weather conditions, assessing comments left on the county’s social media platforms to better tailor messaging to match concerns. During an emergency like the flood, the county’s social media amplifies messaging published by the lead agency in any incident — in this case the National Park Service — funneling interested users toward that agency’s information.

“We keep our finger on the pulse of what's happening in those channels and in the media to see where the needs are, where people are commenting on our posts, what kind of questions they have so we can address those as well,” said Communications Director Melissa Randazzo. 

“I feel like we've got a very wide breadth of followers really has a lot of different types of people, including hiking groups and the conservancy groups and the organizations to reach their people because then that spreads through that community.  A lot of times, if they do a campaign, we join their campaign.” 

Now that the flood has spent several days in the public consciousness, Horstman and her colleagues on the Board of Supervisors are moving to support the local communities that depend on tourism and advocate on their behalf. The flood damage has indefinitely closed campsites inside the canyon and the damage to water infrastructure will force hikers to carry more of their own water when they descend into the canyon.

“When the national or even state media report on what’s happening, they don’t always make the distinction between what’s available in the park and that there’s still lodging just outside the park,” Horstman said. “There are hotels on the North Rim that have lost 40% of their bookings in what is our busy season, but they aren’t operating under the water restrictions inside the park.”