A flash flood near Newcomb, New Mexico, killed three members and friends of one family this week as heavy monsoon rain swamped roads and washes across the Navajo Nation, prompting a state of emergency and evacuations in Shiprock.
Elsie Begay, her 7-year-old granddaughter Lucy Allison Mike, and Begay’s best friend Dora Franklin died Tuesday near Newcomb, a community of about 400 people, family members said Friday.
The family had been out picking up supplies for Mike’s 8th birthday party when their truck got stuck in mud during the storm. Kalisi Begay, Elsie’s daughter, decided to walk home while her mother and daughter waited behind with the truck. The water rose fast. Elsie Begay and Lucy Allison Mike, along with Franklin, who had come to help, were swept away while trying to cross a wash.
“I think she was just wanting to get home,” said Stella Wilson, Begay’s niece.
The flooding this week has damaged roads, forced evacuations and left parts of the Navajo Nation isolated as a late-season push of monsoon moisture continues to soak the Four Corners region. Navajo police evacuated three families in Shiprock on Friday evening because of rising water near the San Juan River.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren declared a state of emergency Friday, with several communities still cut off by standing water and washed-out roads and more rain in the forecast.
“Please use alternate routes, check on our elders and relatives, and follow the guidance of our emergency personnel,” Nygren said in a statement.
About 40 miles south of Newcomb, in the small community of Mexican Springs, flooding left many dirt and gravel roads impassable, stranding some families and keeping others from getting home.
“A lot of ditches are washed out, the culvert pipes are gone. There’s big old, massive holes in the road,” said Darnell Etsitty, a maintenance worker with the local government who spent Friday carving out alternate routes.
The Mexican Springs Chapter House has been turned into a temporary shelter, and volunteers are using ATVs to bring food, water and supplies to households cut off by the damage.
Wilson said road conditions remain poor and her family still hasn’t been able to reach her mother. She asked others in the area to be patient while emergency crews work.
“I just want to make sure other families make it home,” she said.
Remembered for kindness
Elsie Begay worked as a business technician at Sanostee Day School, where her granddaughter Lucy was a third grader. Franklin drove a bus for another nearby school.
Wilson said Begay and Franklin loved working with children. Begay decorated the school’s front office for every holiday and made people feel welcome, while Franklin handed out candy to kids as they boarded her bus. Begay also helped with school fundraisers and other community events.
Lucy had been crowned “Miss Sanostee Day School” on Sept. 4 and was looking forward to her 8th birthday party, planned for next Tuesday. Wilson described her niece as “beautiful” and “bright.”
“She was a big blessing to her family,” Wilson said.
