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Grand Canyon evacuations halted after dam breach

Story Highlights

NEW: Evacuations halted Sunday night; might resume on Monday

NEW: 150 people rescued, operation ongoing

Heavy rains breach earthen dam

More rain expected in canyon area

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(CNN) -- Authorities halted the evacuation Sunday night of a few
hundred people who were initially thought to be in danger after rain breached an
earthen dam at the Grand Canyon.

A rafter is lifted by helicopter across
Colorado River floodwaters to safety in the Grand Canyon on Sunday.

Rescue crews in helicopters evacuated about 170 people Sunday after water
poured through Redland Dam, sending water down two canyons and threatening
several hundred tourists and residents, said Gerry Blair, spokesman for the
Coconino County sheriff's department.

A few hundred others were not evacuated, but they were on high ground and did
not appear to be in immediate danger by Sunday night, he said. Authorities plan
to decide Monday whether to evacuate them.

They also plan to resume the search Monday for "less than 20" people who were
in the affected area and whose whereabouts are not yet known to authorities,
Blair said.

The air evacuations were called off due to darkness at 8:30 p.m. Sunday
(11:30 p.m. ET). iReport.com:
Are you there? Send photos, videos

Most of the 170 people evacuated Sunday were campers, tourists and paddlers,
he said.

A few hundred others -- perhaps as many as 400 -- remained in the area of
concern. Most are permanent residents of Supai village, located within the
Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

They were on relatively high ground and were not in immediate danger Sunday
night, he said, but sheriff's deputies, U.S. Marshals and officers with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs police force were taken by helicopter to the village.
They plan to stay at least until Monday.

The problems started when water breached Redland Dam and poured into Cataract
Canyon and Supai Canyon, which was heavily flooded, said Blair said.

Rescuers used five helicopters -- three of them Black Hawks -- in the rescue
mission. Evacuees were taken to a Red Cross shelter at Hualapai Tribal Gymnasium
in Peach Springs.

Blair said visitors who hike down into the canyon are required to register
with authorities. Authorities have accounted for most people in the area.

Earlier, a private boating party of 16 people was stranded, but uninjured, on
a ledge at the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River on Saturday
night after flood waters carried their five
rafts away, authorities said.

Geoff Gourley, a veteran river guide at the Grand Canyon, told CNN that
campers on multi-day paddling trips often park their boats at the narrow mouth
of Havasu Creek to hike along scenic ridges of the side canyon. Watch
how flooding surprised canyon residents, visitors »

While he couldn't comment on the 16 campers, he said heavy rains from as far
as 15 miles away can wash into the Havasu, swelling it enough to flush the boats
down the river.

"I imagine that's what happened here," Gourley said.

The waters of the Havasu -- normally a brilliant blue-green -- churned a
muddy red Sunday. A flash flood remained in effect Sunday evening and more rain
for the area was likely, the National Weather Service warned.

Tourism is the main source of revenue for the Havasupai
reservation, which was created in 1882.

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may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press
contributed to this report.

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National Park • Floods

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