Cleanup, power restoration continues after two tornadoes hit Navajo Nation

SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Cleanup continues after two tornadoes touched down in Navajo Nation over the weekend, destroying one home and badly damaging another.

For the families who lost their homes, the damage is devastating. But even after the storms passed, crews still had to face another challenge in repairing power lines in some of the most remote parts of the Navajo Nation.

For crews with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), that meant working through difficult conditions to get electricity back to one of the homes.

“What they reported was that one mobile home was pushed off its foundation and another home was demolished, leaving only a foundation,” said Deenise Becenti, NTUA Spokesperson. “With the crews having assessed that, they went to work, and they restored power to the one home that was remaining.”

Becenti added that getting to outages in remote locations makes every repair a challenge.

“These homes are in isolated areas, so it does take a while to get to the power outage site,” Becenti said. “We have to determine the damage, make the assessment, and then return back to the closest district to get the supplies that are needed.”

Luckily, NTUA’s teams are from the area and know the lay of the land, which helped them restore the power as quickly as possible.

With storms this rare and recovery taking time, NTUA said that families can’t just rely on crews. They also need to plan ahead for when the lights go out.

And with winter just around the corner, NTUA wants to remind families that power outages can happen at any time and says now is the time to take those necessary steps to be ready.