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Has been updated: April 23, 2023 at 8:26 PM
The tinl wash is raging in northern Arizona. (Pictured: Navajo Nation President Buu Nigren/Facebook).
PHOENIX — Navajo Nation officials ordered some residents of Chinle to evacuate on Sunday after floodwaters filled laundry, overrunning banks and the Dart Dam.
“Our priority is life,” said Patrick Sandoval, chief of staff and vice president of the Navajo Presidency. press release. “That’s our number one priority, making sure everyone is safe and in the best situation we can handle.”
“What we are facing is overflow from the upstream lakes, Lake Zeile and Lake Wheatfields,” added Sandoval. “They feed the canyons that are now producing large amounts of water.”
He said the focus is on evacuating people by Navajo police.The Chinle chapter provides shelter for displaced families, but some residents are reluctant to leave their homes.
The cause of the flooding, he said, stems from a long-standing problem that the tinl wash has been filled with silt for more than 12 years. , the flood has crossed its embankment.
The tribe declared a state of emergency on January 19 after heavy snow fell on parts of its vast reservation, which covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, leaving flooding and muddy roads. .
Then the recent thaw flooded the lake, draining water in Chinlu, which has a population of about 4,500.
Efforts between Apache County, the Navajo Department of Transportation, and the Indian Affairs Bureau have continued over time to divert water so that it does not enter the community.
That said, he added, the plan was not designed with solid embankments to withstand repeated flooding over an extended period of time.
“You can’t stop it,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
