Faced with heatwaves, Navajo push for power

Workmen plant electricity poles in the rust-orange earth of the Navajo Nation and run cables to Christine Shorty's house — finally giving her power against the searing Arizona desert heat.

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Tonalea — Workmen plant electricity poles in the rust-orange earth of the Navajo Nation and run cables to Christine Shorty's house — finally giving her power against the searing Arizona desert heat.

It will be a luxury in the vast Native American reservation, the largest in the United States, where more than 10,000 families are still without electricity and, therefore, air-conditioning.

"It's climate change. It's getting hotter," Shorty said.

"This would be easier for us with the fan and maybe air-conditioning. And we look forward to that."

In her 70 years, Shorty has seen her isolated, tiny hamlet of Tonalea, a dot in the enormous area of the reservation, change dramatically.