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| Flash floods kill several in Hildale, Utah | Flash floods kill several in Hildale, Utah |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Flash floods in the US state of Utah have killed at least eight people and left five missing. | |
| The dead include women and children whose vehicles were swept away by a rush of water near the town of Hildale. | The dead include women and children whose vehicles were swept away by a rush of water near the town of Hildale. |
| Three people were rescued. The floods followed heavy rains in the canyons just north of the town. | Three people were rescued. The floods followed heavy rains in the canyons just north of the town. |
| Hildale once served as a home base for polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, and there are concerns flood warnings may not reach members of the sect. | |
| Rescue operations were scaled back on Monday because of dangerous conditions. | |
| The women and children were travelling in two vehicles when the flash flood hit, Hildale assistant fire chief Kevin Barlow said. | The women and children were travelling in two vehicles when the flash flood hit, Hildale assistant fire chief Kevin Barlow said. |
| The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning earlier, leading nearby Zion National Park to close canyons as a precaution. | The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning earlier, leading nearby Zion National Park to close canyons as a precaution. |
| But members of Jeffs' sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), are discouraged from having contact with the outside world and may have not received the warnings. | |
| The FLDS broke off from the official Mormon church when the main church denounced polygamy in the late 19th century . | |
| In 2011, Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting underage girls whom he considered brides. | |
| He is believed to have up to 70 wives, according to ABC News, which interviewed former members of FLDS in May. | |
| However, the community is split between loyalists who still believe Jeffs is a victim of religious persecution and defectors who are embracing government efforts to pull the town into modern society. |