Weather plays factor in search for man swept away in Arizona flash flood
Jul 19, 2017, 9:04 AM | Updated: 2:34 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — For the second time in two days, weather forced the delay of the search for an Arizona man swept away by a flash flood over the weekend.
“Safety is our No.1 priority here,” Tiffany Davila, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, said of the decision to halt the search. “We want to make sure our search and rescue personnel are safe and out of harm’s way.”
Officials said Wednesday that the team, while hoping for the best, was focused on recovering the body of Hector Garnica, 27, of Carefree.
Garnica disappeared in a rush of water that engulfed a swimming hole at Cold Springs in the Tonto National Forest near Payson last weekend. The flood killed nine members of his family along with friends.
In all, 14 people were swept up in the flooding; four people were rescued.
“We always want to be optimistic on these incidents. We’re going in as a search and rescue, but in all reality this is a recovery effort,” Davila said.
The search had to be suspended late afternoon Tuesday because of stormy conditions.
A flash flood warning was in effect for northern Arizona.
“There are parts of the water bed that are five to six-feet deep, full of mud and muck and just … debris,” Davila said.
Several agencies and volunteers — 125 personnel — were aiding in the search, including a dive team from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and a drone.
“Our primary mission is to locate him and return his body back to the family so that they have closure,” Incident Commander Pruett Small said.
Between 75 to 80 people will head into an area of the Verde River to look for Garnica.
Small said the team “planned on being here until the sheriff says it’s time to go.”
The search team hoped Garnica would be found over the next three to four days, if not Wednesday.
KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
