SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Several hikers formed a human chain across a river swollen with flash flood waters in Utah, and one of them said Thursday it was powerful seeing people help each other through the dangerous situation.



Jhonatan Gonzalez said rainfall upstream transformed the calm water on a hot and sunny day at Utah's red-rock Zion National Park into a waist-high rushing river on Saturday morning. "There's no way out you just have to go through," said Gonzalez, 40, of Maui, Hawaii.

Strangers joined their line as they continued to help dozens of other hikers cross the river choked with logs and debris. Gonzalez paused briefly to take a video of the effort with his cellphone.

"It felt good. It was a chilling experience. It almost made me feel teary, just seeing how everyone was helping each other," he said.

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Zion closed the area later that afternoon after a flash-flood warning. Ranger John Marciano says rangers work hard to warn people to watch weather reports and be careful of fast-moving water. Anyone caught in risky weather should get to high ground immediately, especially in the river where rocks can quickly become treacherously slippery. Flash floods at Zion have proved fatal in the past, including a devastating 2015 flood in a deep, narrow canyon that killed seven people.