Qualla: 2017 Payson Flash Floods

2017 Payson Flash Floods: Introduction

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Weather Service & NOAA, Public domain. They heard the sound before they saw it. At around 3 p.m. on July 15, 2017, swimmers at the Cold Springs Swimming Hole along Ellison Creek looked upstream and saw a wall of black, muddy water rushing toward them. It was six feet tall and forty feet wide, carrying rocks and logs the size of cars. An extended family of fourteen had been celebrating a birthday party in the shallow waters of the Water Wheel Falls Hiking Trail. Within seconds, that celebration became a catastrophe.

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Image: National Weather Service & NOAA | Public domain

2017 Payson Flash Floods: A Hidden Fuse Already Lit

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Weather Service & NOAA, Public domain. Two forces converged to create the deadly flood, and both were invisible to the swimmers that afternoon. A month earlier, the Highline Fire had burned more than 7,000 acres of land near Ellison Creek. Wildfire strips the ground of vegetation that normally absorbs rainfall, leavin...

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Image: National Weather Service & NOAA | Public domain

2017 Payson Flash Floods: The Warning That Never Arrived

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Weather Service and NOAA, Public domain. A flash flood warning had been issued for the area. But the families swimming at Cold Springs were in a remote canyon with no cell phone reception, no posted warnings, and no alert system. The disconnect was absolute: meteorologists knew the danger, but the people in the path of ...

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Image: National Weather Service and NOAA | Public domain

2017 Payson Flash Floods: Nine Bodies, One Still Missing

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Weather Service & NOAA, Public domain. In the hours and days following the flood, search crews worked the creek and surrounding terrain looking for survivors and the missing. Family members gathered at the scene, waiting for news that grew worse with each passing hour. Rescue teams recovered nine bodies. The tenth vic...

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Image: National Weather Service & NOAA | Public domain

2017 Payson Flash Floods: Accountability and Aftermath

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Weather Service & NOAA, Public domain. A funeral was held for the victims, and the Cold Springs Swimming Hole was closed with posted signs warning of the danger. In the years following the disaster, family members of the victims filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government, alleging wrongful death, negligence, and negl...

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Image: National Weather Service & NOAA | Public domain