Thousands of tourists visit the Grand Canyon daily during the peak summer season [AP]

About 400 native Americans were airlifted out of their tribal Indian village of Supai after the Redlands Dam burst early on Sunday morning following heavy rains over the weekend, local media reports said.

No injuries were immediately reported but the incident occurred on a weekend during the busy summer tourist season when there are thousands of visitors daily.

Maureen Oltrogge, a Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman, said the evacuees were taken to a Red Cross shelter in Peach Springs about 97km southwest of Supai.
 
She said the burst dam caused extensive flooding in Supai, the main town of the Havasupai Indian Reservation.
 
Rescuers were also trying to locate and evacuate campers at a nearby camping ground.
 
Daryl Onton, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Arizona, said the area received up to 17cm of rain following a heavy downpour since Friday.
 
"That's all it took – just a few days of very heavy thunderstorms," he said.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: