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KANAB — Flash-flood season is in full swing in southern Utah, and most people consider it wise to stay out of the way. Not so for flash-flood chaser David Rankin.
Rankin specializes in hunting down every flash flood he can find, with the purpose of shooting incredible video.
Maybe you've seen a bit of the craziness on YouTube. Over 1.5 million people watched Rankin stalk a July 18, 2013, flood and jump out of the way.
"Little disclaimer: What I'm doing is dangerous," he said. "I don't recommend doing this unless you're really familiar with what you're messing with."
Rankin sells his video to companies like National Geographic and Discovery Channel.
For years he's developed his expertise. He figures out where a flash flood is likely to be, hunts them down and films the mayhem.
"I think now I have over 30 of them on film," he said.
Flash-flood chasing is a side hobby, of sorts. Rankin did most of his growing up in the cliffs, canyons and usually-dry washes of southern Utah. He now works full time for the National Park Service.
In another of Rankin's videos, he takes up a surveillance position with his wife, Cecily Rankin, watching the Paria River, east of Kanab. A thunderstorm many miles north dumped who knows how much rain into the up-country, promising a natural phenomenon Rankin has seen hundreds of times.
Four hours after the storm had come and gone, Rankin's video shows the river suddenly turning foamy under U.S. Highway 89. Rankin scrambles down the hill to shoot the mess. The river's volume doubles, triples, maybe quadruples within a couple of minutes.
The a small flash flood arrived gradually, without a big wave in front. "Not quite as dramatic as a front wall; but hey, it's still pretty cool," Rankin said.
The Rankins often wait a long time for the payoff.
"I don't have as much patience as he does, so I have a hard time sitting and waiting as long as he does," Cecily Rankin said. "But once it comes through, the thrill is just as high."
So if three hours, five hours, maybe even 10 hours elapes before the flash flood reaches them, what does that say about the risk for people downstream?
Not far downstream on the Paria there's a narrow slot-canyon, popular with hikers.
"When (the rain water) gets funneled into that slot canyon, it will be 4 or 5 feet deep," Rankin said. "If there's anybody hiking in there right now, it's going to be a very scary experience for them in the coming hours."
While he's been criticized for taking too many risks, Rankin thinks his work is justified on the basis of public education. No doubt about it, his videos underline one of the deadliest tricks that a desert has up its sleeve.
"It paints the picture of the dangers out West," Rankin said. "As one of my favorite authors said, 'There's two easy ways to die out West: You can die from thirst and you can die from drowning.' "
