11 tourists thought to be missing found safe

by Megan Boehnke, John Faherty and JJ Hensley - The Arizona Republic

PEACH SPRINGS - The Havasupai people are returning to their village of Supai at the bottom of Havasu Canyon today.

Their homes are intact but the canyon, a place of remarkable beauty within the greater Grand Canyon, is a mess.

The blue-green water is thick with mud.

The trails leading to the village are not passable.

The bridges crossing Havasu Creek are washed out, and the waterfalls they lead to are unrecognizable.

“It’s devastating,” said Drusilla Clarke, speaking for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “My grandparents lived down there. It’s going to be really hard for the people.”

The best news on Tuesday was that 11 hikers, unaccounted for since rainwaters flooded the village over the weekend, were safe.

In fact, the tourists were taken out in the first evacuation Sunday, and in the chaos, their names were left off the checklist of people leaving Supai.

Ultimately, more than 250 were evacuated because of the flooding.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 62-mile road from Route 66 to the rim overlooking Havasu Canyon reopened. The Red Cross also announced it would close its shelter this morning when residents would be allowed home.

Those events added to the general relief that nobody was hurt or killed in the storm.

But the mood was far from joyous. The beauty of that part of the Grand Canyon is an important part of the tribe’s identity, and tourists coming to visit it are an important part of its economy.

Billy Jack, with the Havasupai tourism office, said camping revenue alone generates $2 million for the tribe annually, and that, at best, it will be six months to a year before the area gets anywhere close to normal.

“I’m afraid it looks pretty grave,” Jack said. “The whole area’s unstable, especially toward the falls. “The tourist dollars are really critical.”

The BIA, Coconino County sheriff’s officials and tribal leaders were hesitant to guess when the village will become viable again as a tourist destination. Most of their knowledge of the damage comes from aerial tours and photographs.

“We were completely focused on how to get people out,” said Sgt. Aaron Dick of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Department. “Now, we need to get in on foot to see what it looks like.”

The remoteness of Havasu Canyon, more than 250 miles from Phoenix, will also make repairing it a challenge.

Getting workers and supplies to the rim of the Grand Canyon will be difficult; getting them to the bottom even more so. The only way to the village, one of the only places in the country where mail is still delivered by mule, is a 9-mile hike or a 10-minute helicopter ride.

Some tribal leaders returned to the village on Tuesday. Although it remained off-limits to journalists, pictures of the devastation began to circulate by e-mail.

The roots of trees along Havasu Creek in the village were left exposed by water.

Mud was everywhere. But perhaps most significantly, parts of the trail leading from the village to the falls were simply gone.

“Pretty much everything was damaged,” Clarke said.

Normally, 450 people live in the village in the western side of the Grand Canyon.

Approximately one-third of them stayed in the homes to protect their animals and their village despite strong warnings that they should leave.

This commitment to their land is who the Havasupai are.

“We are the guardians of the Grand Canyon,” Fernando Manakaja said. “If we’re not there, who’s going to take care of it?”

About the Havasupai Reservation

• It’s world-renowned for its hiking areas. It features a 2,000-foot-deep canyon and is the home to a tiny band of Native Americans who call themselves the “People of the Blue Water.” About 12,000 tourists visit the area.

• The 8-mile Havasupai Trail, accessible by foot, horseback or mule, starts at Hualapai Hilltop at a large parking lot.

• Supai Village is the capital of the Havasupai Reservation. It is home to about 500 tribal members.

• Havasu Creek starts as a small trickle above the canyon and streams into Cataract (Havasu) Canyon. The creek is famous for its blue-green color and distinct travertine formations. The creek runs through Supai and eventually spills into the Colorado River. Along the way are camping grounds and three falls.

• Navajo Falls is approximately 70 feet tall.

• Havasu Falls, more than 120 feet, is Havasu Canyon’s most famous and photographed waterfall.

• Mooney Falls cascades over a 210-foot wall.

• For more information, go to www.havasupaitribe.com.

Flooding timeline

• 10 p.m. Saturday: Tribal officials are notified that water levels at Havasu Creek are rising, according to the National Weather Service.

• Midnight: Water levels “looked bad,” said Warren Youngman, an official with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

• 3 a.m. Sunday: An unknown number of bridges and three homes along the creek are washed away.

• 5:30 a.m.: An evacuation order is issued. Campers are told to grab their belongings and return to Supai Village, where a Blackhawk helicopter awaits to transport them to Hualapai Hilltop.

• 9 a.m.: Water levels have risen 8 feet above normal.

• Through the morning and afternoon: Once residents reach the hilltop, they are taken either by bus or van to a Red Cross shelter at Peach Springs, about 60 miles southwest of Supai.

• 7 p.m.: The evacuation continues. It takes 12 minutes for a helicopter to bring people from Supai to the Hualapai Hilltop.

• 9 p.m.: Officials report that approximately 400 people have been evacuated from the area.

- Lily Leung

Copyright © 2008, azcentral.com.

Posted on August 20th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: News