At Least 15 Killed in Southern Utah Flash Floods (VIDEO)

Most reports indicate that 12 people died, like the CBS Evening News video below.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "At least 15 killed, including nine children, in southern Utah flash floods":

Before they turned deadly, the storms were a wonder.

Waterfalls spouted from the sides of the mountains. The rain came down so hard that some residents in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. -- most famously known as the home of a fundamentalist Mormon sect -- had trouble seeing their backyards.

"It's crazy!" Lydia Wyler, 38, said as she shot video of the wind and rain thrashing the trees outside her Hildale house, laughing a little as her kids gaped in amazement.

The joy didn't last. At least 15 people -- including at least nine children -- were killed in flash floods that struck southern Utah on Monday.

In Zion National Park, at least three visitors were killed while exploring Keyhole Canyon when more than half an inch of rain fell in less than an hour, park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said Tuesday.

“It would have flashed right after a rainstorm,” said Baltrus, who added that the group had a canyoneering permit for the area.

Four others who were exploring the canyon were missing Tuesday, and Baltrus said rescuers wouldn’t be able to go into the small canyon until conditions improved.

Tragedy also struck Hildale and Colorado City, the border cities together known as Short Creek.

Officials say that as two families were returning Tuesday from a visit to a nearby park, the group of three adults and 13 children stopped to watch the floodwaters that had blocked their path back to town. A wall of water suddenly came from behind and swept their vehicles away, killing at least 12 members of the group.

Three children survived, including one who was hospitalized overnight. One person is missing, and it's not clear whether the person is an adult or child. The youngest child in the group was 4 and the oldest a teenager.


"We're just greatly humbled by this, but we realize this is an act of God, and this is something we can’t control," said Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow. "We have to take what we receive and do the best we can."

But after describing the thousands of phone calls the community has received and the arrival of more search dogs to look for the missing, Barlow fell silent a few moments.

"Just never experienced this before," Barlow said softly...

More.

And at USA Today, "Death toll rises to 12 in Utah flash flood; 1 still missing."