Horrific Scenes at Grand Canyon as Hiker Gets Swept Away in Flood

A nightmare situation in Grand Canyon National Park has a search underway as a hiker got swept away in a flash flood.

Combining a colorful sunset and a waterfall like Havasupai falls. It’s magical. / Tom Gainor/Unsplash

A search is underway as a flash flood at the Grand Canyon National Park swept away a hiker that has yet to be seen since.

Rains hit Havasu Creek hard on the afternoon of August 22 which is what caused the horrific flash flood.

Chenoa Nickerson, a 33-year-old native of Arizona, was on a hike through the creek before being lost in the water. Park officials described her as as 5’8”, 190 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was not wearing a life jacket and got picked up by the water about a half a mile ahead of a confluence with the Colorado River.

Her husband was found safely and rescued, one of over a hundred hikers that had to be saved via helicopter.

The search efforts are focused in the areas of Beaver Falls, where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado River and then further down the Colorado River.

There have unfortunately been no updates on any further information being made available at the time of writing.

A group of other hikers were left stranded but were able to be rescued via helicopter with the first flight taking off about an hour and a half after the flood took place.

Video from another visitor, Chris Kurtz, that shared the story of his camp site being destroyed shows just how intense the flooding was.

This was the campground flooding. I took this right after we had climbed up Mooney falls. My group was the last as the ladders were washed. There were people behind us still. Some were taken out by chopper that day, others ended up the entire night in canyon. pic.twitter.com/GaiatpiQwZ

— Chris Kurtz (@ckurtzopks81) August 24, 2024

Havasu Creek is a beautiful area known for its waterfalls and normally turquoise colored water. A permit is required to visit the area due to it being overlooked by the Havasupai Tribe.

It's normally a two-to-three day trip which involves over 10 miles of hiking, but the remote location is one of the best in the country.

This latest event caps off a horrible last month of operations at the National Park with three confirmed deaths since the last couple of days in July.

While the deaths didn't have anything to do with rain and water-related issues, it still serves as a reminder to be as safe as possible when going on a trip in the outdoors. Nature can be hard to plan for as it is unpredictable and uncontrollable.