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 In Zion National Park to the north, four people died and three
were missing after going to explore canyons on Monday, officials
said.
"Another tragedy for our state. Reeling right now," Utah Lieutenant
Governor Spencer Cox said on Twitter.
In the small city of Hildale, Utah, hundreds of volunteers were
helping search for one person still missing, Washington County
officials said, after floodwaters swept through streets.
"It was an act from God," Hildale Mayor Phillip Barlow told
reporters of Monday's tragedy, according to the Deseret News. "This
is something we can't control ... It happened too fast."
Crews have been searching the banks of Short Creek amid sporadic
showers, while contractors using heavy equipment have worked to
clear thousands of tons of mud and debris. The National Guard has
been called in to help with the cleanup.
 "In the flash flooding two occupied vehicles were hit by a large
wall of water and debris at the Canyon Street Maxwell Crossing and
were carried into the flood," Washington County officials said in a
statement.
An advisory for people to boil their water was issued late Tuesday
due to damage to the water system.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert said he was "heartbroken" over the loss
of life.
Hildale, home to fewer than 3,000 people, is twinned with Colorado
City, across the border in Arizona.
Both cities are home to the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That sect is not affiliated with
the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, which renounced polygamy in 1890.
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"It's the most terrible thing," said Ross Chatwin, a Hildale
resident who is not affiliated with the sect, whose members tend to
have little contact with outsiders.
"There has been no confrontation," Chatwin told the KSL-TV channel
of efforts by non-members to help. "They are allowing everyone to
come in freely."
Separately, four people died and three were missing after going to
explore canyons at Zion National Park, less than 20 miles (32 km)
north of Hildale, before Monday's heavy rains, the National Park
Service said.
The search for the missing hikers has been hampered by concern about
flooding and other hazards, it said.
(Reporting by Peg McEntee; Additional reporting by Victoria
Cavaliere in Los Angeles and Daniel Wallis in Denver; Editing by
Mohammad Zargham and Eric Beech)
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