Photo Credit: MorgueFile

Reports early this morning are saying that flash floods across the state of Utah have left eight people dead, and a further five missing.

The floods occurred along southern Utah after a thunderstorm. “This hit with a vengeance we haven’t seen for some time,” said Kevin Barlow, the assistant fire chief in Hildale, a town on the Utah-Arizona border. Several children and mothers were among the dead or missing, he added.

The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning earlier in the day, leading nearby Zion National Park to close all slot canyons as a precaution.

Flash floods are the second-highest cause of weather-related death in the United States after heatwaves.