Arizona Department of Transportation officials have closed Highway 160 east of Kayenta on the Navajo Nation following severe flash flooding Wednesday night.
It damaged a section of the road near Dennehotso and Laguna Wash. The closure is between milepost 402 and the US 160/US161 junction at milepost 435.
Officials say drivers should use Highway 191 and State Route 59 to bypass the closure through the Many Farms community. ADOT did not provide an estimated time to reopen the highway.
Photos posted to social media Thursday by Navajo transportation officials showed heavy damage to Highway 160 with a deep gash of missing pavement.
According to a Navajo Department of Transportation official, the closure will affect the transport of uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to southern Utah.
It comes after three people died on Navajo Nation Wednesday after they were swept away in flash flooding in the Newcomb community in New Mexico.
