Shiprock flood destroys homes, cars, livestock
Special to the Times | Alysa Landry Juanita Shorty’s home, pictured Tuesday afternoon, was unsalvageable and demolished by the chapter.
SHIPROCK
Special to the Times | Alysa Landry
Juanita Shorty’s home, pictured Tuesday afternoon, was unsalvageable and demolished by the chapter.
Alice Shorty was home alone Friday night when her cinderblock house began filling with water.
Shorty lives on the west bank of Salt Wash, a creek running through the Mesa Farm area of Shiprock. The creek bed flooded during a heavy rainstorm Friday, washing away homes, vehicles and livestock and prompting both the Shiprock Chapter and the Navajo Nation to issue declarations of emergency.
Shorty, 73, was inside when the rain started at about 9 p.m. When the creek swelled and overflowed, her niece rushed over from next door, leaving a family of six at home.
The two women experienced the flood as a series of crashes, Shorty said during an interview Tuesday. The first crash came when a wave of water pushed through her back door.
“The water hit hard,” she said. “As it was coming up toward the house, I could hear it. I could hear it coming up the porch, then it hit the house and was inside.”
The second crash came when cold water slammed into her chest, Shorty said. Then her china cabinet and entertainment center toppled over and other furniture, suddenly floating, began smashing into the walls.
Finally, Shorty said, the walls themselves starting giving out. The eastern wall crumbled as the water continued to rise.
“The tables and couches were swirling around in the water,” Shorty said. “We didn’t know which way to turn. Then the walls broke, one at a time, and I kept hoping the last one wouldn’t go.”
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow