Work Continues To Bring Aid To Those Stranded By Storm

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   Firefighters, medical service providers, Arizona and Nevada National Guard troops, state emergency management teams and service organization representatives continued to pour into Holbrook early in the week in an effort to provide emergency supplies to residents stranded on the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation.
   With average snow levels reported at four feet across much of the reservation, which was preceded by heavy rains that saturated the soil, President Barack Obama approved an emergency declaration on Jan. 24 that paved the way for federal aid to the area.
   As of Tuesday afternoon, a number of aerial missions had been completed to drop supplies in places unreachable by vehicles, to conduct assessments on roads and buildings, and to evacuate individuals in need of medical treatment.
   Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who was in Holbrook on Jan. 26 to certify election officers, toured the emergency operations center and was advised that all individuals with immediate medical needs had been assisted.
   “There are a lot of people still stranded,” Arizona Department of Emergency Management Incident Commander Tony Sciacca told Bennett.
   According to the Department of Public Safety, a fly-over of reservation roads found that “snow was at rooftop levels on some small buildings in some areas.”
   Sciacca noted that many roads are being plowed, but because most roads in the area are dirt, mud is a problem, and in many plowed areas, travel is only possible in the early morning and late evening when the roads are frozen.
   As of Tuesday afternoon, relief workers had delivered 4,008 meals-ready-to-eat (MRE), 5,000 gallons of water in collapsible containers and 300 blankets provided by Red Cross. Show Low Fire public information officer Eric Neitzel noted that he expected at least 4,000 additional MREs to be delivered shortly thereafter.
   The relief effort is a joint project involving the state and local governments, including Navajo, Apache and Coconino counties, as well as the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. Local fire departments, as well as the state fire department, have been assisting in the effort, along with sheriff’s deputies, county staff and volunteers. Assistant County Manager Dusty Parsons, who was recently placed in charge of emergency operations for the county, noted that Sheriff K.C. Clark, and Supervisors Jonathan Nez and Jesse Thompson have been personally involved in delivering food and supplies.
   “They’ve been running missions,” he said.
   The emergency operations center was moved from the sheriff’s office to the fairgrounds to accommodate the dozens of workers coordinating the relief effort, including 54 people on Sciacca’s incident management team. Approximately 60 National Guard members are also assisting in the effort. The women’s unit at the county jail has been converted to temporary housing for Guard troops and others assisting in the relief effort.
   Although most of the focus has been on the northern end of the county, Parsons noted that there have also been rescue efforts in other areas.
   “We just rescued people from Deer Springs in south county,” he said. “They’d been stuck there for seven days and were running out of food. It took us two days to be able to get to them.”
   Power outages are also plaguing south county. An electric line that serviced Cibecue snapped where it crossed a canyon, making repair difficult and dangerous in the deep snow.
   Parsons noted that as of Tuesday afternoon, there were no firm estimates for how long relief efforts would need to continue.
   “Until we can get those people out,” Parsons said.
   Neitzel pointed out that another storm was expected late in the week, and would be one of the determining factors in how long emergency operations would continue.