Flooding damages roads as power, water outages persist
Navajo Times | Marsha Carl
Muddy floodwater and debris cover portions of a paved road in Monument Valley, Utah, Thursday, Oct. 22. Sandstone buttes rise through rain and haze in the distance as heavy rainfall causes flooding in the area.
WINDOW ROCK
Water and power outages continued in parts of the Navajo Nation on Thursday as heavy rain, flooding and poor road conditions complicated efforts to restore service.
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority’s 3:15 p.m. update listed power outages in seven utility districts and water outages in six. It did not specify how many customers were affected or when service would be restored in areas still experiencing outages. According to the update, crews were responding as quickly and safely as conditions allowed.
The National Weather Service in Flagstaff issued another flood warning Thursday evening for Apache County after local law enforcement reported flooding near Chinle.
Flooding was expected along Chinle Creek north toward Rock Point, Arizona. The warning, which included Chinle and Many Farms, was scheduled to remain in effect until 8:45 a.m. Friday, Mountain Daylight Time.
An earlier flood warning for parts of Apache, Coconino and Navajo counties expired Thursday evening. Between 1 and 2.5 inches of rain had fallen in the warned area, including heavy rainfall earlier Thursday in much of northern Navajo County. An additional 0.5 to 1.5 inches was possible while that warning remained in effect.
Flooding also damaged roads in the Oljato-Monument Valley area. According to a 2:05 p.m. Thursday notice from the Navajo Police Department, heavy rainfall damaged Oljato Main Road.
San Juan School District moved Monument Valley High School and Tsé’ Bii’ Ndzisgaii Elementary School to at-home learning Thursday because of heavy rain and flooding. Students at both schools were dismissed early Wednesday.
Navajo Times | Marsha Carl
A skid-steer loader clears mud and debris from a flooded road in Monument Valley, Utah, Thursday, Oct. 22, after heavy rainfall sent muddy runoff over the pavement.
A separate flood warning for Moenkopi Wash and the Little Colorado River from Cameron, Arizona, to the Colorado River confluence was in effect until 1 a.m. Friday, Mountain Daylight Time. The weather service reported Thursday afternoon that Moenkopi Wash remained above flood stage.
In New Mexico, the weather service issued a flood warning for the San Juan River at Shiprock, where minor flooding was forecast beginning early Friday. The river was expected to rise above flood stage shortly after midnight and crest early Saturday.
Power outages were reported in NTUA’s Chinle, Crownpoint, Dilkon, Fort Defiance, Kayenta, Shiprock and Tuba City districts.
Affected locations included Lukachukai, Rough Rock and Many Farms in the Chinle District, White Rock in Crownpoint, Klagetoh and Jeddito in Dilkon, and Naschitti and Hogan Well in Fort Defiance.
Other outages affected Black Mesa and Chilchinbeto in the Kayenta District, Sweetwater and Sanostee in Shiprock, and Kaibeto, Tonalea and Cedar Ridge in Tuba City.
The update also listed Leupp-Birdsprings, Tolani Lake and Grand Falls among the affected locations, with electricity supplied by Arizona Public Service.
Water outages affected the Tuba City, Chinle, Crownpoint, Fort Defiance, Kayenta and Shiprock districts. Affected locations included areas near Tonalea, Piñon, Church Rock, Rock Springs, Dennehotso and Sanostee.
Customers can report outages at ntua.com.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow