Hiker's GoPro Footage Captures Harrowing Moments When Deadly Flash Floods Swept Through Zion National Park

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A camera mounted to a hiker's head captured the moments when torrential rainfall began falling in Utah's Zion National Park on Monday, triggering flash flooding that killed seven people, six of them from Southern California.

The GoPro footage shows a desperate struggle to descend a steep gorge that was quickly filling with rainfall.

The man who captured the footage, Jordan Birnbaum, was hiking with his girlfriend when they were suddenly overcome by extreme conditions, including rain, hail and 50 mph winds.

"All we were thinking about was survival," Birnbaum said. "It was just, 'We're going to get down this mountain.'"

After a seven-minute escape through cascading waterfalls and flooded trails, Birnbaum and his girlfriend made it out alive.

But seven others, who were organized through a local hiking club, did not. Six of the victims were from Southern California. The victims included an off-duty Ventura County Sheriff's sergeant and his wife.

"We knew this was not going to end peacefully," Birnbaum said.