Results elusive in search for missing Hildale flood victim
Searchers have pulled out of Hildale Tuesday after a two-week effort to find and recover the body of a 6-year-old boy who is the last presumed victim of a flash flood that killed 13 people.
Despite repeated searches of the piles of mud and debris in a 10-mile stretch of creek bed and flood channels, there has been no luck finding Tyson Lucas Black, who along with 15 other family members was swept away into a flood channel while inside their two vehicles Sept. 14.
“So many of our volunteers and employees who assisted are saddened by the lack of success in locating (Black),” Washington County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Shauna Jones wrote in an email. “We had hoped that with the extensive effort expended by the search teams and volunteers he would have been found by now.”
A localized effort by the communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Arizona, was expected to continue later in the week.
More than 60 different agencies, along with thousands of volunteers, aided search and rescue crews in response to the incident, believed to be the deadliest weather-related incident in Utah history.
Also on Tuesday, the Hildale City Council voted to ratify the emergency declaration Mayor Philip Barlow had signed in the wake of the tragedy.
The council also approved a grant proposal to be sent to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, asking for $1.5 million to fund repairs and flood mitigation efforts on damaged city infrastructure.
Barlow said members of the community have been appreciative of the help offered from others in southwest Utah and the state.
"It's amazing the gifts that have been offered, the prayers that have been offered," he said.
At about 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, a Suburban SUV and passenger van carrying 13 children and their three mothers were pushed suddenly into a flood channel after what meteorologists described as a "100-year storm" dumped an estimated 1 ½ inches of rain onto the desert landscape in about 30 minutes.
Three mothers, Naomi and Josephine Jessop and Della Black, were killed along with 9 of their children when a sudden rush of water spilled out of a flood channel and pushed their two vehicles into the torrent. Three young boys survived.
Witnesses taking video of the flooding were there to capture the sobering images of the vehicles as they washed away, at one point dropping off a steep drop-off into the muddy waters below.
More than 1,000 people gathered last weekend for a public memorial service held at Hildale town park. Utah dignitaries including Gov. Gary Herbert were on hand to address the crowd and speak with the victims' family members.
Additional flooding caused by the same storm system was also blamed for seven deaths in Zion National Park and another death on the Arizona Strip. WIth 21 presumed dead, it is the worst known flood event in Utah's history.
Follow David DeMille on Twitter, @SpectrumDeMille, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpectrumDeMille. Call him at 435-674-6261.
More on the Hildale flash floods
Hundreds gather for Hildale flood victims' memorial
Utah governor visits flood-stricken communities
Division still evident amid flood recovery efforts
Flood survivors speak about loss, appreciation