3 Dead in Navajo Nation Flash Floods as Monsoon Storms Hit Southwest

Three people drowned in the Navajo Nation flash floods near Newcomb, New Mexico, early on September 16, when monsoon-fueled floodwaters swept through a desert stretch of the reservation. Tribal police found two adults and one child at the scene and pronounced them dead, ending a search that began shortly after midnight when officers were told people had been washed away by rising water.

The victims were killed as an unusually strong monsoon storm system moved across the Four Corners, drenching Arizona and New Mexico with days of heavy rain. The storm dropped more than a month's worth of rain in just a few hours north of Phoenix on Wednesday, triggered water rescues across the Phoenix suburbs, and forced school closures in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

A deadly night on the reservation

Navajo Police Department officers from the Shiprock District responded around 12:30 a.m. local time to reports of a possible drowning near Newcomb, a community about 40 miles east of the Arizona state line, according to USA Today. Emergency crews searched the flooded area and found the three victims, who appeared to have drowned, and pronounced them dead at the scene. Police have not identified the victims or confirmed whether they were from the Newcomb community, and said the incident remains under investigation.

Preliminary information from the Navajo Nation Commission on Emergency Management indicated the victims were members of one family who died in the Navajo Nation flash floods that struck the Northern Agency on September 16, while the Navajo Nation Council described the fatalities as affecting the Toadlena and Two Grey Hills communities, according to The Watchers. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a statement that hearts were heavy across the Nation and offered condolences to the grieving family and community, urging strength and comfort in the difficult days ahead.

Rescues across Arizona as storms stall

The same storm system battered Arizona on Wednesday. Water rescues continued in Scottsdale, where several vehicles were stranded in about two feet of standing water, according to the fire department, and crews in Goodyear used a helicopter to pull two people from a car trapped in floodwater, CNN reported. All Ruidoso Municipal Schools closed Wednesday because of the hazardous conditions across the region.

Forecasters placed much of the region under a Level 2 out of 4 flash flood threat through Friday, with Phoenix and Ruidoso upgraded to a Level 3 threat, the New York Post reported. Several flash flood warnings were also issued across Utah and Colorado, including for the Grand Canyon, according to the Weather Channel.

Tropical moisture fuels the monsoon

Meteorologists said the storms were fed by an unusual surge of tropical moisture arriving from the Gulf of California and southwest Mexico, remnants of a decaying tropical disturbance that pushed deep into the Southwest, according to the Weather Channel. That kind of deep tropical moisture is something the Southwest typically deals with only once or twice a year.

The setup was reinforced by a massive heat dome parked over the central and eastern United States. Airflow around the heat dome pumped tropical moisture out of the Pacific along its western edge while upper-level energy drifting around the dome provided steady lift for thunderstorms, the Fox Forecast Center said. The storms arrived in the usual late stretch of monsoon season, which generally ends in late September or early October.

In Newcomb, rain began Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. and lingered intermittently until just after midnight. The area received roughly half an inch to an inch of rain in total, with most of it falling within a single hour, CNN reported. Floodwaters can rise rapidly in desert creek beds, canyons and arroyos even when the ground nearby looks dry, and warnings can be difficult to receive in remote areas, the Weather Channel reported. Poor radar coverage over parts of the Navajo Nation makes it even harder to track exactly where the heaviest rain falls, according to a storm analysis by Balanced Weather.

Nation-wide emergency response

The deaths occurred amid a Navajo Nation-wide state of emergency for severe monsoon storms, flash flooding and storm-related damage to roads and infrastructure, which the Navajo Nation Commission on Emergency Management reaffirmed on September 15 under Resolution No. CEM 26-004, according to The Watchers. Navajo Police searched the flooded area alongside Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue crews from the Newcomb and Shiprock stations, Navajo Emergency Medical Services, the Sanostee Community Emergency Response Team and a K-9 search and rescue unit.

Navajo Nation Department of Transportation crews were deployed to communities affected by flooding and severe washouts, and the National Weather Service in Albuquerque kept a flash flood watch in effect for the western third of New Mexico and the South Central Mountains, USA Today reported. Flood watches remained in place for New Mexico, Utah and Colorado on Thursday, with more rain expected across the Southwest into the weekend.

On September 16, Nygren advised communities across the Navajo Nation to stay alert as more rain, saturated ground and ongoing runoff kept flooding concerns high in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Officials urged drivers, hikers and anyone traveling through the region to stay out of creek beds, canyons and dry arroyos, where water can arrive with little warning.

Reporting by CNN, USA Today and The Weather Channel.

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