SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of several hikers who formed a human chain across a riven swollen with flash flood waters in the Utah desert says it was powerful watching people help each other through the dangerous situation.
Jhonatan Gonzalez said Thursday it was a hot and sunny day, but rainfall upstream transformed the calm water at Utah’s Zion National Park into a waist-high rushing river on Saturday morning.
The 40-year-old Hawaii man and his brothers originally stood together to help younger family members cross the river to get back to the trailhead. He shot cellphone video as strangers joined the line that helped dozens of hikers cross the river choked with debris.
Zion closed the area after a flash-flood warning that afternoon. Park officials urge people to get to high ground at the first sign of fast water.