Flash floods sweep away family on weekend outing

Search crews in Arizona are looking for a 13-year-old boy missing after a flash flood swept away nine other members of his group Saturday. The dead include four adults and five children, one as young as 2. Officials have not identified them. The flood swept through the popular swimming hole near Payson, about 100 miles northeast of Phoenix, after a heavy thunderstorm struck upstream in the Tonto National Forest. Officials said the group of family and friends had no warning before the 6-foot-high wall of water crashed down on them as they sat in lounge chairs and splashed in the normally placid creek. Search crews recovered some of the bodies as far as 2 miles downstream. The water gushed for about 10 minutes before receding. Flash floods are a recurring problem but many people, especially those coming from urban areas, aren’t always aware of the danger, officials say.