Storm is a pain
Apache County declares emergency

Gallup High School student Bill Funk hangs on to his sled after hitting a bump and getting airborne Monday while sledding near McGaffey Lake in the Cibola National Forest. A weekend snow storm prompted officials to close all of the schools in the Gallup McKinley County School District. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A winter storm that dumped more than 36 inches of snow in some areas of Apache County this weekend has precipitated a State of Emergency declaration by the County Board of Supervisors. The Navajo Nation, meanwhile, is in a state of warning and readiness.

"This was kind of a surprise," said Selena Manychildren, public information officer for the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management.

"Just when we declared a State of Emergency for the drought, it snowed on us. So now we're going to have to prepare another resolution to declare a State of Emergency because of the present weather conditions," she said Monday evening.

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tom White declared an emergency meeting Monday morning in anticipation of problems similar to those suffered during the 2004-2005 holiday season when mud isolated many Apache County citizens, including those living on the Navajo Nation within the county.

"We didn't want to wait until we started hearing about stories of people trapped in their homes," said White. "We learned that by acting quickly and decisively, we can prevent a lot of heartache for those living in outlying areas."

Nation on stand-by
The Navajo Nation is in a stand-by mode, according to Manychildren. She said Emergency Management plans to get the new State of Emergency resolution ready today and then "kind of wait and see. ... They said it's going to be warm, so there's going to be a lot of melting snow. By the weekend there's more storms coming in and they're predicting rain, so, obviously, it's going to get worse.

"We're going to take a day-by-day approach, incident-by-incident, and Department of Emergency Management is going to take care of all the needs," she said. "Through the resolution, we hope to at least activate some of the funding left over from last year."

While some chapters have graders, "they're broken down, so hopefully the emergency funds will help them," she said. "Some of the chapters still have their emergency funds, so I'm sure they'll use some of those. And for those that are short, the Department of Emergency Management will do what they can."

Supervisor White said the Apache County State of Emergency declaration allows the county to access funds for intensive road grading and special assistance. More importantly, it allows county officials to take equipment off county road projects and redirect it toward clearing vital roads.

Chapters 'ALERT'
Emergency Management Director Johnny Johnson reported during a meeting Monday that the department received a lot of reports related to the weather. Manychildren said Johnson told them that most of the affected chapters were ready.

"Surprisingly, some of them had ALERT (Local Emergency Management) teams that went out to the community and took care of their people," she said. "Chapters were ready to respond and they hopped right to it. They delivered wood in a lot of locations to the people that needed it." She said Johnson had high praise for the ALERT teams.

Dilkon has established two ALERT teams. "They coordinated in their area and they are ready to respond to emergency situations anywhere on the rez, is what they said. That's a good example of how people should be prepared in each community. It's really a morale booster when you hear things like that," Manychildren said.

No major incidents were reported across the Navajo Nation related to the snowstorm. "It was a blessing," she said. "I think a lot of people just kind of felt calm about it and they stayed home, which is our advice to people: Stay off the road. Don't create worse conditions for yourself by being out there."

She said Thoreau's Community Health Representative reported that their local team had been activated and that all high-risk clients had been checked. "They needed wood, coal and water," Manychildren said. CHR's Anita Davis provided wood from her own stockpile.

"There was one man who was reported missing south of Crownpoint. They sent out search-and-rescue, but the elderly man returned home safely without incident," Manychildren said. He merely had gone out for a walk, and his family became anxious and reported him missing.

Johnson reported there was up to 12 inches of snow in higher elevations with challenging road conditions. Dilkon area had 3-5 inches of accumulation; Lower Greasewood, 5 inches; White Cone, 7 inches; and Window Rock, 5-6 inches.

"All across the reservation they had snow and road conditions were bad. It was snowing in Tuba City, Cameron and Page. Roads were wet, snow-packed and icy in Coalmine and that area," Manychildren said.

While "everything looks good for now, as the days go by, with the snowmelt, it's going to get a little bit bad for people that are way out in remote areas," she said. "They need to kind of get wise travel in the early morning hours when the ground is hard, and late at night when the ground gets hard again.

"But mostly, Emergency Management and the Emergency Management Commission would like to tell people if they don't need to be out and about, they should stay home."

For assistance, contact the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management in Window Rock (928) 871-6892.