Authorities Uncertain When To Reopen Supai Village
By Chris Kahn - Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - It's uncertain
when American Indians living at the bottom of the Grand Canyon will be able to return home as thunderstorms continued to soak
a region where flooding forced the evacuation of scores of people, authorities said Aug. 18.
Helicopters on Aug.
18 took turns ferrying 85 people out of the Havasupai Tribe's village of Supai, about 2,300 feet below the canyon rim,
said Gerry Blair, a spokesman for the Coconino County Sheriff's Department. Rescuers transported another 170 people out
of Supai Canyon Aug. 17.
Village residents asked for extra supplies Aug. 18, but Blair said authorities weren't
sure yet what to deliver. It's unclear how much Supai will need since many are choosing to leave the village, and authorities
don't know how long it will take to reopen hiking trails to the public.
''There's nobody down
there in dire straits because they don't have any food or water right now,'' he said.
Gov. Janet Napolitano
toured the flood damage and met with Havasupai leaders Aug. 18. She said afterward that crews must restore a pack trail that
is used to deliver mail, food and other supplies to the village. Part of the trail is still underwater, she said.
Meanwhile, authorities continued to search for about 11 campers and tourists who remained unaccounted for, Blair said. He
said it's possible those people might have already left, but authorities would assume they were still in the canyon until
that could be determined.
''We believe we got all the tourists and all the hikers out of there,''
Blair said.
Supai is extremely remote. It's an eight-mile hike from the nearest parking lot, dropping straight
down on a winding canyon trail. The community is the only one in the United States where the mail is delivered by mule.
The village itself rests well above the Colorado River and includes homes, a K - 8 school, a post office, a cafe,
clinic and a store. It sits in a region that's popular for hikers and river runners, with towering blue-green waterfalls.
About 400 people live there year-round.
Supai and the surrounding area got soaked over the weekend as thunderstorms
dumped 3 to 6 inches of rain Aug. 15 and 16 in northern Arizona and about 2 inches more on Aug. 17.
Some hiking
trails and footbridges were washed out and trees were uprooted, officials said.
Another round of showers added
almost an inch more of rain the morning of Aug. 18, and slow-moving storms were expected to sweep over the canyon later that
afternoon, the National Weather Service said.
Over the weekend, dozens of tourists were stranded as rushing water
swept away rafts, backpacks, food and other supplies.
''It was definitely frightening, and there was a
lot of, 'Whoa, what are we going to do next and what's the morning going to bring?''' said Mimi Mills,
42, of Nevada City, Calif., who was stranded with 15 other river runners the afternoon of Aug. 16 after a flash flood washed
away their rafts.
Mills said the group took shelter overnight under an overhang, but had to scramble up a cliff
when another flash flood occurred in the middle of the night.
''I woke up to people yelling, 'We've
got to get out of here!''' she said. ''We booked it up a cliff in 10 seconds, and we just saw this massive
rush of water rage down the creek side.''
In another part of the canyon, an earthen wall that forms a
pond to water cattle and other livestock was breached about 45 miles upstream from Supai.
Havasupai Vice Chairman
Matthew Putesoi declined to comment until the tribe checks the extent of the damage to the village. No more tourists were
being allowed in.
Ferdinand Rivera, who was visiting the canyon with friends, awoke around midnight Aug. 16 to
the voices of other campers warning of rising flood waters that were approaching his tent.
Within 10 minutes,
he said he gathered his tent and belongings and sought higher ground. But with a nearby bridge and trails washed out, he said
''there was no way of hiking back, there was no way of getting out.''
With his gear in tow, he
hiked about two miles across rugged ground to the village where he was evacuated by helicopter the afternoon of Aug. 18.
Rivera said officials should have forced evacuations sooner and worked quicker to remove those who were stranded in
the canyon.
''It was so negligent, so badly handled not only by the villagers but also by whatever agency
was there, that I will never go back to that place,'' he said. ''It's beautiful. I would have loved to
go [back there].''
There were no reports of injuries. Blair said no one was being forced to leave Supai.
Outside the canyon, about 39 people had registered at a makeshift shelter Aug. 18 at a gymnasium in nearby Peach
Springs, but not all were staying there, said Tracey Kiest, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross.
The Havasupai
Tribe is one of the smaller Indian communities in Arizona with about 679 members, according to BIA estimates from 2003, the
latest statistics available.
Supai is about 30 miles west of Grand Canyon Village, the popular gateway to Grand
Canyon National Park.
