Event narrative (NOAA)
A thunderstorm producing heavy rain moved over Hildale, Utah in the early afternoon, producing flash flooding along Short Creek and other neighboring drainages. This water flooded Highway 59, and portions of the road were closed and gated off, as this is a somewhat common occurrence for the community. However, a second strong thunderstorm trained through the area, producing very significant flooding out of Maxwell and Jans Canyons.||This second flood swept across a group of 16 people who had been waiting for the initial flood waters to recede. When the second flood began, the group retreated to the two vans they had been traveling in, and the large flood swept the vans away and down the channel. Three of these people were rescued and survived, but the remaining 13 people were killed by the
Other notable flash flood events in Utah
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.