Searches resume for missing hiker as 200 people at another national park are stranded

Search efforts resumed Sunday for a woman who was swept up in the torrential flash flooding in Utah, which also left nearly 200 people at another national park in New Mexico stranded for nine hours.

Jetal Agnihotri, 29, of Tucson, Arizona was still reported missing on Sunday after she decided to brave the flash flood warnings at Zion National Park on Friday and go through the Narrows — a section of the park that requires wading through the Virginia River on a good weather day. 

Her friends told KSLTV they wanted to check out the Narrows – despite not being able to swim – to close out their trip to Utah, but when they heard about the potential of flash flooding, most of them decided to stay back.

Agnihotri, though, was reeling to go, and left for the area on her own. The friends were supposed to meet near the visitor center’s parking lot, and when she did not show up, Agnihotri’s friends called for help.

Shortly after, a video shot by her brother, Pujan, showed another man being swept away in the floods devastating the southwest over the weekend, when an abundance of tropical moisture mixed with two storm systems to enhance monsoon-related downpours.

At least one person was injured in the floods after they were pulled downstream, the New York Times reports. 

Agnihotri’s backpack has since been recovered, even as the search for her nears 24 hours.

‘We have more than 20 search and rescue team members in the field,’ Jonathan Shafer, Public Affairs Specialist for Zion National Park, said adding that on Sunday they were joined by members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and from the Hurricane Valley Fire District. 

Still, Agnihotri’s brother, Pujan Agnihotri, said he is now worried about his sister, noting she cannot swim.

Her friend, Mostafa, though, is holding out hope, telling KSLTV: ‘I can’t imagine that something is happening to her. She’s a good fighter.

‘I mean she’s one of the toughest girls I have ever seen in my life. I’m really sure she can fight with that river and she can make it out.’ 

Several others were able to find high ground, and were rescued by emergency responders amid the extreme flash flooding. 

Meteorologists said rainfall rates could eclipse one to two inches per hour during the heaviest downpours, and more than 100,000 people remained under flash flood watches on Sunday.

The southern half of New Mexico could receive anywhere from four to eight inches of rain from Thursday into Sunday, according to Accuweather, potentially nearing its average annual rainfall of 10 inches.

As a result of these heavy storms, parts of both Zion National Park in Utah and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico were closed to visitors — and those who were left enjoying the last vestiges of summer at the parks had to be rescued.

Some were even swept off their feet in the Narrows section of Zion National Park, while others had to huddle inside a visitor center in Carlsbad Caverns National Park with limited food supplies for nine hours on Saturday.

Visitors at Carlsbad Caverns National Park were forced to shelter in place for more than nine hours because flooded roads became impassable, according to the Eddy County Office of Emergency Management.

Chief Ranger Laura Steele said park rangers began evacuations at 2pm Saturday due to thunderstorm activity, but just about an hour later, the decision was made to issue a shelter in place order inside the visitors center.

Those who were at the park on Saturday expressed their shock by the tumultuous weather.

‘There was no signs or anything like that warning us about flash flooding or anything,’ Michael Conteas, of Albuquerque, told KOAT. 

‘Children were very upset,’ he added. ‘My wife was very, very nervous. Everyone was pretty much distraught.’

Robert and Stephanie Saavedra were also at the park with their three young children. Stephanie said they were about halfway done with the tour when park officials gave the evacuation order.

They instead decided to join the others at the visitor center building, where Stephanie said they asked several times about food and water for their children.

‘They don’t even know about food and water for us,’ she said.

Eventually, though, the family was able to get some food for their kids, at a price, but soon the facility ran out of food, so some people could not eat.

The order to shelter in place was finally lifted late Saturday night.  

Outside, authorities said they responded to calls from visitors who tried to cross streams and become stuck in their cars, and Jennifer Armendariz, an emergency manager, said officials had conducted a few rescues — including one for a family whose vehicle had turned on its side, and a couple stranded on the roof of the car.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported, she told the Times, and on Sunday, crews began clearing the debris.

 She said it has been difficult to educate the public not to cross the streams in their vehicles during a flood, even though emergency responders told drivers on Facebook: ‘Turn around, don’t drown.’

Armendariz said that though the water may not look deep it’s ‘not worth the risk of trying to cross,’ adding that a man died last year trying to do just that.

‘I believe it was a Jeep of some sort that was a little lifted off the ground, so he felt he was above the water enough to be able to pass through it,’ she explained. ‘Unfortunately, it picked up the vehicle and took him.’

The National Weather Service says these massive storms are occurring due to excess monsoonal moisture in the southwest. Monsoons are a seasonal change in winds that can result in increasing humidity levels over land, which can cause more devastating storms.

Heavy rains are now expected to continue with an ongoing threat of flash flooding from the Southern Plains to the lower Mississippi Valley, and the National Parks in southern Utah remained under an elevated risk for flash flooding on Sunday.

Researchers now warn such storms may only get worse as the Earth’s average temperature continues to rise.

Experts say that the ever increasing concentrations of heat trapping gases, mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the average temperature to increase by 1.1 degrees Celsius, or two degrees Fahrenheit, every year since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

And with each degree Celsius the temperature increases, the air can hold 7 percent more moisture, leading to more severe storms.

Making matters worse, flooding associated with sea level rise is already accelerating, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

‘Sea level rise impacts are happening now, and are growing rapidly,’ William Sweet explains in the report, noting that the rising sea level could exacerbate the flooding from storms, which push more ocean water onto land.

The saltwater could also fill underground drainage pipes, which means rainwater could back up and collect in the streets.

By 2050, the report estimates, high tides could send water into neighborhoods dozens of days each year.