Nature's Nightmares
9 dead, 1 missing after flash flood at swimming hole in Arizona
In the Tonto National Forest north of Phoenix, nine people were killed Saturday afternoon when a flash flood swept through a swimming hole where a family was having a gathering, officials said Sunday.
The flash flood hit the Cold Springs Swimming Hole at around 3:19 p.m. local time, and 14 people were washed away. A search and rescue team was able to rescue four people on Saturday; on Sunday, the bodies of a 2-year-old girl and another person were found. Police say they are still searching for one missing person, a 27-year-old man.
The Payson Fire Department said there have been several forest fires recently in the area, and that is likely why so much debris washed down into the swimming hole. "Normally it's just a trickle of a creek, but during the monsoon season it can go from a foot deep to 10 feet deep in a matter of minutes," Gila County Sheriff's Det. David Hornung told NBC News.