Rescuers say they've evacuated most of the 200 visitors that were caught out when the Havasupai reservation in Arizona was flooded on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

Tribal spokeswoman Abbie Fink says all tourists were accounted for and no one was seriously injured in the flooding event.

Benji Xie, who was camping at the gorge, said people were swimming at the waterfall base when the flash flooding struck.

"The sky opened up. Winds started blowing, sand was blowing everywhere and rain was coming down in sheets," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Xie said water sloshed up around people's tents, with some stranded on islands that formed in the water, while others climbed trees, stood on benches or sheltered in caves.

Fink said dozens of tourists were evacuated from the campground and spent the night in a village school at Supai.

Five tourists were flown by helicopter to the village, while others were still waiting to brought out, Fink said.

The reservation will be closed for at least a week while officials assess the damage.

Posts on social media showed muddy water roaring through the canyon that is prone to flooding.

Ten members of an Arizona family were killed last July when a torrent of rain water rushed through a swimming hole in a canyon northeast of Phoenix.

Australian Associated Press