A CRJ Captain received a 'STEER FAIL' EICAS message on short final. He was able to clear the runway with differential braking and was towed to the gate.

Narrative

We had to deviate around some weather that was moving across the state. We ended up going about fifty miles south and ended up on the southern arrival. As we approached the airport from the south there was a large cell of weather about fifteen miles to the north of the field moving towards the airport. We configured the aircraft and as we put the gear down we received a 'steer fail' message on the EICAS. The auto pilot was still on so I had the First Officer ran the checklist and I had the aircraft and the radios. I did not want to go around with [the] weather that was moving towards the field. As we continued the approach the First Officer said that we could land and to just use differential braking and rudder. We landed and used the brakes and rudder to control the aircraft. We were able to get the aircraft off the runway and onto a taxiway but once we stopped it was impossible to maneuver the aircraft to the gate to park. So we asked Operations to have a tug come out and tow us in. We were unable to reach them because they evacuated the operations area and also the tower as the storm moved over the field. We waited an hour and ten minutes for the lightning to subside so they could have someone come out and tug us in. Once the tug was hooked up they tugged us to the gate and deplaned the passengers.