DINETAH: THE NAVAJO RESERVATION
Yesterday afternoon, media outlets were reporting that the earthen dam at Crownpoint, on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico north of Gallup, was a mere two to three hours away from failing. It was billed as a question of when, not if, with a guarantee that flash flooding would occur that would likely take out the Crownpoint Indian Health Service [IHS] facility.
Apparently, no one spoke with tribal officials who were on the scene.
The dam did not, in fact, fail. Navajo officials and first responders were already aware of the issue and were on-site, working to create a spillway and set up portable pumps to release the pressure of the floodwaters swelling the reservoir.
Just to be on the safe side, they also evacuated the IHS facility, as well as Navajo Technical College and dozens of homes in the surrounding area.
What was hyped breathlessly as sure and certain catastrophe was, in fact, apparently handled efficiently and effectively, especially given the external complications.
Nonetheless, the situation has been and remains dangerous, and outside of local Indian press and the Indian Country Today Media Network, it has gone virtually unremarked outside of reservation boundaries.
As of Saturday, the damage had become both widespread and severe.
As many as 50 chapters have requested assistance in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation said, with 22 people evacuated in Chinle, 40 evacuated or rescued in Many Farms and Rock Point, and 20 homes damaged in Tonalea, Arizona. Chinle residents were returning home on Friday September 13.
Even with floodwaters subsiding, however, homes were still plagued by mud, rain, mold and infestation, according to reports.
It's a perfect storm of severe weather effects resulting from accelerating climate change: prolonged extreme drought, over a period of years; extreme freezing temperatures last winter that destroyed pipe and infrastructure and damaged the water supply; and now, a monsoon season different from, and even more intense than, the usual pattern. And members of one of the more economically depressed tribal nations are paying a steep price.
The Chinle Subagency has been hit hardest overall, with 22 people from five different families evacuated last Wednesday. The Navajo Nation paid for hotel rooms for the evacuees, who were able to return home on Friday. Another seventeen people spent Wednesday night in a Chinle shelter set up by the tribe and the area Red Cross chapter.
And while To’hajiilee (the eastern Navajo reservation formerly known as Cañoncito) has been in the news recently for entirely fictional reasons, it's likewise been hit by the storms. On Friday, state officials reduced a busy stretch of the I-40 corridor, which crosses the reservation, to one lane. Flooding caused formation of a 20-foot deep sinkhole in the highway's median, a result of what officials term a "drop inlet" failure. The reservation's dam is also now classified as a "Level 1 emergency"; officials fear that it could fail if the rain continues to fall.
Right now, much of the Navajo Nation is in a holding pattern: waiting to see whether the rains will continue, waiting to see whether the floodwaters will return, waiting to see whether the dams and spillways will hold. Crownpoint's long-range forecast tops out at a 30% chance of rain for today, and decreases from there — but as its residents will tell you, those numbers mean little to nothing this time of year. In the meantime, clean-up efforts have begun. Volunteers in the area are needed for physical labor, for shelter staffing, and for purchase and delivery of supplies, including basics like bottled water. Residents will also need help for some time to come as they work to repair water and mud damage, and reclaim their homes (to the extent possible) from toxic mold that is already developing.
If you live in the area and would like to volunteer, or if someone you know can do so, you can contact the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management Emergency Operation Center at the following numbers: 505.371.8415; 505.371.8416; or 505.371.8417.
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