Chinle elders and children still waiting for help from flooding
Navajo Times | Holly James
Kenneth Gorman of Chinle walks through the flood water on Saturday in this April photo. Gorman used a metal siding from his trailer to build a makeshift dam to prevent water from entering his homestead in Chinle.
CHINLE
Around 250 Chinle residents are still affected by the flooding that occurred last month.
They are holding onto hope as they await acknowledgment and assistance from Navajo Nation naat’áanii. However, all they have to hear is silence.
Water sits near a home where a child sits in a “macwagon,” and a man stands with his hands on his knees in Chinle on Saturday in this April photo.
Over 30 days have passed, and one traveling through the Chinle community known to locals as “Jurassic Park” still looks like the flooding just occurred. Although the water has receded and the temporary reinforcement of the berm seems to be holding for now, families have been displaced as homes are unlivable. It is filled with mud and debris, with some homes shifting off their foundations.
Navajo Times | David Smith
Volunteers from Team Rubicon help build a berm blocking the wash where floodwater came through in April. This is one of five berms helping regulate the flooding that has swept through the Chinle community for nearly five days.
Some still lack water and electricity, making it hard to cook meals or refrigerate perishable foods and medications.
There are no temporary bathroom facilities, and to add to that, there is a potential health hazard with some sewage lines being compromised as they are buried by sand and floodwaters. Another health hazard is the growing mold in homes.
Chinle Chapter President Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch has aggressively provided and sought resources since the flooding started.
Read the full story in the May 25 edition of the Navajo Times.
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