Navajo Nation authorities on Thursday rescued 30 people from their homes in Dennehotso after thunderstorms caused flooding in the area.
Elsewhere in the Four Corners region, storms caused several rivers to reach high water levels and led to a possible tornado near Heber-Overgaard.
The Navajo Police Department said in a Facebook post that they rescued seven families from their flooded homes with a SHERP all-terrain vehicle, which is used for flood rescues.
Videos shared by the department show a hulking, black car with tractor-sized tires driving through muddy red floodwaters.
Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue Services and local chapter house personnel also assisted.
Both the police department and fire and rescue did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nearby, the Hopi Tribe declared a state of emergency due to flooding within its borders.
Northern Arizona saw intense rainfall and thunderstorms across the region this week, including a suspected tornado in the Heber-Overgaard area, which damaged over 20 structures and led to one significant injury.
More broadly, several rivers in the Four Corners area, including the Colorado, the San Juan and the Animas, were at or approaching record-high streamflow levels on Thursday and Friday. That’s according to gage data compiled by The Land Desk, a Substack run by Jonathan P. Thompson.
