SALT LAKE CITY One of several hikers who formed a human chain across a river swollen with flash flood waters in the Utah desert said Thursday it was powerful watching people help each other through the dangerous situation. <\/p>\n
Jhonatan Gonzalez said rainfall upstream transformed the calm water on a hot and sunny day at Utahs red-rock Zion National Park into a waist-high rushing river on Saturday morning. <\/p>\n
Theres no way out you just have to go through, said Gonzalez, 40, of Maui, Hawaii. <\/p>\n
He and a group of about 15 family members turned back when they saw the current become strong during a river hike known as The Narrows, but they soon reached an area where the water was higher. <\/p>\n
Gonzalez and his brothers originally stood in the water together to help several younger family members ranging from 1 to 8 years old cross the river. <\/p>\n
Strangers joined their line as they continued to help dozens of other hikers cross the river choked with logs and debris. <\/p>\n
Gonzalez paused briefly to take a video of the effort with his cellphone. <\/p>\n
It felt good. It was a chilling experience. It almost made me feel teary, just seeing how everyone was helping each other, he said. <\/p>\n
Zion closed the area later that afternoon after a flash-flood warning. Ranger John Marciano says rangers work hard to warn people to watch weather reports and be careful of fast-moving water. Anyone caught in risky weather should get to high ground immediately, especially in the river where rocks can quickly become treacherously slippery. <\/p>\n
Flash floods at Zion have proved fatal in the past, including a devastating 2015 flood in a deep, narrow canyon that killed seven people. <\/p>\n
In Arizona, dozens of hikers have been rescued from floodwaters in recent weeks. Ten people died in mid-July when a sudden rainstorm thundered through a tranquil swimming area about 100 miles northeast of Phoenix. <\/p>\n
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