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Two People Still Unaccounted For In Utah Floods; Death Toll Now At 18

Crews continue to search for two people who have been missing since Monday when two separate flash floods swept through parts of southern Utah and killed at least 18 people.

The two missing include one adult hiker and a 6-year-old boy.

Searchers recovered two bodies on Wednesday.

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The Facebook page for Utah's Washington County, which has been providing updates on the search mission, says Hildale Mayor Phillip Barlow gave the boy's name as Tyson Lewis Black.

As we reported Tuesday, Hildale is located along the Utah-Arizona border and was the site of one of the sudden floods that engulfed vehicles carrying three women and 13 children.

Three people survived, and one was transported to a hospital Monday.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

"The Utah National Guard and law enforcement on Wednesday resumed searching for the last known victim of a flash flood that tore through this polygamous border town home to followers of Warren Jeffs, leaving 13 dead and three injured, all of them women and children."The search resumed along the 6-mile stretch of the Short Creek Wash, where the bodies of 12 others were found on Tuesday, said Brian Anderton, of the Salt Lake Regional Incident Management team. " 'They're in recovery mode,' Anderton said. "The last known victim is a child, officials have said. "Among the dead were sisters: Della Johnson and Naomi and Josephine Jessop. The children have not yet been identified by Hildale community leaders or police."

Their SUV and van were swept away when a waterway that is normally dry was overwhelmed by a wall of water from heavy storms.

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NPR's Howard Berkes told our Newscast Unit the runoff turned a stream into a raging river in a quarter of an hour.

"Officials in Hildale, Utah, say the area affected by the flash flood there extends more than 7 miles. The victims include three sisters and most of their children. Mayor Philip Barlow says the casualties serve as a wake-up call and reality check for a community accustomed to flash floods. In Zion National Park, rangers are searching for the missing there in drainages downstream of Keyhole Canyon. The Park Service says the flood was fueled by more than a half-inch of rain in less than an hour. That produced a 47-fold increase in the flow and volume of the park's Virgin River in just 15 minutes."

That same flood struck another group 20 miles away in Zion National Park. Park officials say seven hikers were canyoneering in a narrow and short slot canyon called Keyhole.

Six of the hikers are confirmed dead.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.