TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. (AP) – The search for a man who was swept away in a flash flood that killed nine others at a swimming hole in central Arizona heads into its third day Wednesday.
Meanwhile, there are questions about whether the government should have done more to warn the public about the dangers of floodwaters in wilderness areas.
The nine people who died and a man who remains missing were swept away Saturday after a torrent of water from a thunderstorm upstream roared through the Tonto National Forest. Officials say members of an extended family who died in the flood had no warning about the approaching surge of water.
The storm dumped up to 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain in an hour, prompting a flash flood warning from the National Weather Service. Though the service sent out a flash-flood warning over cellphone networks, service in the remote area is patchy at best. Unless they had a weather radio, the swimmers would have been unaware.
Officials have said people headed to wilderness areas should check weather alerts ahead of time to determine whether it’s safe. They note that it’s hard to predict where rain will fall in the desert Southwest, and people should know that heavy downpours can cause flash flooding.