Chinle leaders, Army Corps tour flood-damaged wash, develop emergency action plan

Community leaders and federal engineers walked the Chinle Wash to get a firsthand view of flood damage and to advance an emergency action plan aimed at protecting homes and lives. The visit brought Chinle Chapter officials together with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representative to review berms, discuss water monitoring and alarm systems, and sketch next steps for flood preparedness.

Chinle Chapter President Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch led the tour with Army Corps representative Christopher Stanton. Jumbo-Fitch said the visit underscored the chapter’s urgency after repeated high-water events. “We’re obviously at the top of the radar with all the significant flooding we’ve experienced, especially last April,” she said. “The Army Corps brought in experts from Los Angeles, Sacramento, Albuquerque, and the L.A. District to evaluate and assist.”

The tour, held Feb. 5, 2026, took participants along berms built to shield neighborhoods and to locations where the Corps has been asked to assess damage and protective works. Photographs and on-site observations showed community members walking along the flooded berms and pointing out spots where water overtopped or threatened yards. Christopher Stanton examined an area described as a berm constructed and designed to protect Chinle residents as part of the site review.

Personal accounts highlighted the local stakes. Chinle resident Dwayne Kinlichee showed Stanton where floodwaters entered his home and described the aftermath. Kinlichee told Stanton “the floods took nearly two weeks to recede and weeks for it to dry.” Photo captions show Patricia Crosby, Kinlichee’s mother, present during the walk, underscoring the family-level disruption the community has faced.

Reporting from the tour noted that floodwaters reached as high as four feet in some places during the 2023 event, inundating homes and threatening lives. That scale of damage has driven the Chinle Chapter to continue developing a formal emergency action plan with technical input from the Army Corps. Discussions on the tour included installing water monitoring gauges, implementing an alarm system, and reviewing existing flood mitigation measures.

For residents, the visit signals a pivot from recovery toward preparedness. The Army Corps’ involvement and the deployment of regional experts aim to translate lessons from last year’s flooding into tangible systems that could provide earlier warnings and better protect homes in future high-water events.

Next steps include further assessment and planning between Chinle Chapter leaders and Corps engineers, and clear timelines and funding commitments will be essential for moving proposed gauges and alarm systems from concept to installation. Residents should expect updates from Rosanna Jumbo-Fitch and Christopher Stanton as the emergency action plan is refined and as technical recommendations are finalized.