How intense rains in the Grand Canyon turned into a deadly disaster

This isn't a story about home upgrades, but it's worth understanding since it points to a pattern showing up across the country: extreme rain events are getting stronger, and the ground's ability to handle them is getting worse.

A flash flood in the Grand Canyon over the weekend killed at least two people and forced the rescue of nearly 80 others after a sudden downpour hit the Bright Angel Creek area. Scientists say several factors likely combined to make it so severe. Part of the storm struck ground burned by last year's Dragon Bravo wildfire, and burned land sheds water much faster because fire strips away the vegetation that normally slows runoff. Federal assessors had already warned that debris-flow risk near Phantom Creek was two to eight times higher because of the fire damage. A long-running drought in the region left soil hard and dry, which also makes it worse at absorbing sudden rain. On top of that, an unusually strong El Niño has been pushing more moisture into the atmosphere over the Southwest, and warmer oceans tied to climate change are intensifying storms generally.

Researchers note that short bursts of heavy summer rain in the western US have grown about 10 percent stronger since 2000. The broader lesson for homeowners, especially those in wildfire-prone or drought-affected areas, is that the old assumptions about how much rain the ground nearby can safely handle may no longer hold.