Was anyone near Zion (or unable to get there) this week when the Virgin River flooded? I heard about the destruction in St. George due to the flooding there, but no one has mentioned Zion. Was the park closed?

I can't tell you about Zion but the flooding continued along the river south of St George. Gunlock (Utah) was isolated by the road being washed away, Beaver Dam (Arizona) had considerable damage and the highway was also washed out, and my home town of Mesquite (Nevada) had severe damage to a number of homes close to the river and we still have two main streets and a number of side streets closed. There was also fairly extensive damage in Overton (Nevada) further south just before the river enters Lake Mead.

They say the water exceeded the 100-year flood plain all along the river. I took a look at the river south of town after the water receded to some degree and it was startling. The Virgin River is normally a slow, meandering creek, barely 25-50 feet across. Two days after it flooded it was still quite swift and at least 100 feet across and I could see the water course, at high water, was at least 500 yards across.

Fortunately, I live away from the river and a little higher so I was not directly effected but we have had no long distance telephone lines for the last several days and the ATM's in town are out of service because they connect to their central computers by telephone lines.

We were indeed fortunate not to have any loss of life and, while there was some physical damage, it is nowhere near the severity of St George/Santa Clara.

I found this report:

http://www.thespectrum.com/news/stor...s/1867672.html

It looks like the road thought the Kolob section is closed due to mud slides. Emerald Pool trails are closed indefinitely due to rock and mudslides. It said it will be reopened when it is safe to do so.

Utahtea

It is so sad to hear of the destruction in the area of St. George and points beyond. We were there last summer, and it's the most beautiful little city we'd ever visited. I hope the problems in Zion do not keep the Narrows closed for long. All of you who have been affected by this are in our prayers!

I bet that wonderful trail at Kolob that I hiked in October can't even be recognized now. This is the type of fury that carved out the area and the canyons to begin with over so many years. Dwooddon's description is amazing, considering the little meandering river we saw in October. I'm just glad no one lost their lives in the rock and mudslides. Thanks for the link, utahtea.