A tornado touched down in the McCracken Mesa and Cahone Mesa areas in San Juan County on Saturday, September 13, resulting in damage to homes, property, and infrastructure. The area is northeast of Montezuma Creek, Utah.
Preliminary damage assessments from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and the Navajo Police Department show that at least two homes and multiple trailers were completely destroyed, additional homes sustained serious damage, and numerous power poles were downed.
“The families affected by today’s weather incident will be able to seek shelter at the Montezuma Creek Elementary School,” Navajo Police Department officials commented.
No injuries have been reported. Residents are urged to avoid the affected area to allow utility crews to safely conduct their repair work.
The twister is a quite uncommon event in Utah, particularly the dry canyon- and mesa-covered south of the state. The entire state only sees 2-3 tornadoes a year on the average, and that region has only seen “a handful” since 1950, according to the National Weather Service station in Grand Junction, who said they were currently calculating the estimated tornado strength.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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