Flash Flood — Washington, Utah

2015-09-14 · near Grafton, Washington, Utah

Event narrative

A thunderstorm producing heavy rain moved over Hildale, Utah in the early afternoon, producing flash flooding along Short Creek and other neighboring drainages. This water flooded Highway 59, and portions of the road were closed and gated off, as this is a somewhat common occurrence for the community. However, a second strong thunderstorm trained through the area, producing very significant flooding out of Maxwell and Jans Canyons.

This second flood swept across a group of 16 people who had been waiting for the initial flood waters to recede. When the second flood began, the group retreated to the two vans they had been traveling in, and the large flood swept the vans away and down the channel. Three of these people were rescued and survived, but the remaining 13 people were killed by the flood. Three of these 13 victims were women, while the remaining 10 were children under the age of 12.

Property damage was also extensive across the area, including damage to water lines, area roadways, power lines, bridges, and other infrastructure. In addition, multiple private homes had flood and mud damage, while several others had minor water damage. Multiple vehicles were also destroyed in the flood.

Wider weather episode

Multiple strong thunderstorms producing heavy rainfall moved through southwest Utah on September 14, creating significant flash flooding in Hildale, Utah and Zion National Park. These two flash flood events combined to produce the deadliest natural disaster in Utah history, with 20 fatalities in the state of Utah, and a 21st just south of the border in Arizona.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.0000, -113.0980)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 602738. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.