Disaster Declared: Cheyenne River Sioux

[douglas9]

Source: Censored News

January 28, 2010
Severe Ice Storms and Freezing Temperatures Have Knocked Down 3,000 Utility Poles – Tribal Residents Have Been Without Electricity, Heat and Running Water for Six Days.

EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. – The Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has declared a State of Emergency in central South Dakota, an Indian reservation approximately the size of Connecticut with nearly 15,000 Tribal members. The Tribe is still awaiting Presidential disaster declaration.

Days of ice storms and strong winds have downed over 3,000 utility poles across the reservation. Thousands of already impoverished tribal residents have been without electricity or heat for five days, with wind chill factors well below zero. Experts estimate it may be as long as a month before all areas have electricity restored.

“Making matters worse,” said Tribal Chairman Joe Brings Plenty, “the loss of electricity has also knocked out the Reservationʼs aging water system. We have no running water on the entire Reservation, it is also affecting of Reservation communities such as Faith, whose water is supplied from pipes running through the Reservation.”

Read more: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

[WhiteTara]

1. wow! That is terrible.

I hope that relief is forthcoming for those people! No water, heat or light with 3000 poles down! That is a disaster.

[Submariner]

2. If we can swoop into Haiti with relief

there is no reason why we can't do the same for those we have directly screwed to no end.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Ditto

Never mind the size of Connecticut - should be all of South Dakota.

[Mithreal]

16. +1,000,000,000 Come on government, do your damn job

[malaise]

32. +1,000

This is madness

[Hubert Flottz]

3. K&R

Very sad...

[democrank]

4. I`d like to see a gigantic effort

to help in this disaster and others they`re facing. Our treatment of Native Americans is shameful.

[niyad]

5. what everyone else said.

[UpInArms]

6. +1

n/t

[niyad]

8. kick

[Joey Liberal]

9. This requires a HUGE response

Where is the S.D. congressional delegation on this?

[ensho]

10. has D.C. responded to this yet? lives are in danger .

nt

[arcadian]

11. Why am I just now hearing about this?

Oh... yeah, Indians.

[Enthusiast]

39. Ed Zackery. nt

[knitter4democracy]

12. That happened here in Michigan once when I was a kid.

We spent the entire two weeks without power doing everything we could to keep the fireplaces going full-blast so we wouldn't freeze. I've never forgotten how cold we were or how hard that was, and I know that it's really bad out there. People died here during that time, and people are going to die there if we don't do something and fast.

Where the heck is the National Guard? Where the heck are the supplies and rescue squads?!

[Mari333]

18. fighting corporate wars in afghanistan for corporations

[1monster]

13. Who do we contact to get the message through to Obama to declare an emergency?

This needs to be done now.

[Mithreal]

20. Would like to know too. Our government is closed on Saturdays.

It's the damn 21st Century, would think we could be responsive to the people's phone calls 24/7/365.

I am sure some Republican representative somewhere needed some handholding or a beer.

[prairierose]

14. They have opened disaster shelters outside of the affected...

area and urged people to go to them. They have been open for several days now. I have not heard how many people are taking advantage of them. Almost every year, some part of the state is affected in this way. Sometimes there are bigger areas sometimes smaller. The utility companies bring in teams of people to work on the problem. It does sometimes take quite some time when there are that many poles down from ice.

This is why a distributed network and local production of electricity would help many. In a place like this where this happens almost yearly, a different method might be better. When I was still farming, we went a couple of weeks without electricity but we had a back up generator so we were fine.

[Doremus]

26. Are they providing transportation to the shelters or is this another

NOLA? Telling people to leave or take shelter is fine but following up to make sure they can GET THERE is the difference between lip service and actual compassion.

[madrchsod]

15. wal mart is suppling food...

other agencies are helping out but nothing from washington dc.

[Lorien]

28. I just contacted a relative who is a Native county commissioner

she has a lot of DC contacts. Hopefully she can find out what's going on.

[cry baby]

17. OMG, my brother in law is a doctor on that reservation!!

I'd better get to a phone!

[timo]

22. ????

better be a cell phone, chances are if the utility poles are down the phones are messed up too!!

[ooglymoogly]

37. And please post what is going on.

this could turn ugly If help is not there already.

[cornermouse]

19. As a point of reference, something like this happened

in my state 2 or 3 years ago. Basically the entire corner of the state was knocked out. It was a learning experience. It seems there are private companies that specialize in disasters. We had private company crews from Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and other states running around cutting tree limbs off remaining lines putting up new poles, stringing new line. I was without electricity and running water for more than a week. There were some around here who didn't get theirs back for two weeks. The electric company claimed that even though we were without electricity for all that time that they had to charge a regular month's bill due to the "stress" on their finances and that they would work out the difference over a couple of months time. I suspect that's what will happen on the reservation.

[Mithreal]

21. How does an unresponded emergency get knocked off LBN?

There should be exceptions to every rule.

[Lorien]

27. Makes no sense to me whatsoever

plenty of Haiti stories were allowed on LBN. Does someone here dislike Native peoples that much?

[Bennyboy]

23. They should change the name of Joe Brings Plenty to...

Joe don't got shit.

[Flaneur]

25. Love those Sioux names.

I used to know guys whose last names were Plenty Horses and Has No Horses. I always thought the families should intermarry and change their names to Everybody's Got Some Horses.

I also knew a guy whose last name was Never Miss A Shot. He was in prison for manslaughter.

And there was a family of really bad ass dudes. Their last name was Bad Heart Bull.

[Bennyboy]

29. Funny.......

And apt too I might add.....

[Roon]

33. I knew a brings plenty when I was in SD in job corps

I was fascinated with all the native american surnames. I never saw such a thing in my life! Another one that I liked, his last name was Pipe-On-Head...

[Flaneur]

24. This is some of the most remote, miserable territory in the country.

West of the Missouri River, it's high and dry. There is nothing there. They gave the Sioux this land for a reason: It's fucking worthless. There's a reason there are only 15,000 people in an area the size of Connecticut.

How remote do you have to be for Pierre, SD, to be the nearest thing approaching a metropolitan area. (Pierre pop. about 17,000).

[hfojvt]

34. oh it is not that bad

it's not far from my home town. Life is not miserable just because there are no metro areas around. Especially now in the days of high speed internet.

[newfie11]

41. remote yes but some of Cheyenne River res is very pretty

Cherry creek runs through part of it and it is a beautiful area. The town ow Cherry creek is not however.

[Flaneur]

45. Well, it does have a certain, er, austere beauty.

But it's high and dry. Not much land suitable for crops because there isn't enough water.

There is nobody there. As a driver, I love it--empty highways and long, long straightaways--but there is nothing there.

[newfie11]

46. That is and always has been ranch country

The Lakota were never farmers to begin with. The Cheyenne River Tribe has a herd of buffalo and also they have wild horses. The tribe teaches youngsters how to train them.

The area of Cheyenne River rez is not nearly as dry as Rosebud or Pine Ridge. People do raise wheat and hay on rez land.

[Mithreal]

30. kick

[existentialist]

31. This news is dated

I used to live in Eagle Butte, and I've spoken with people in Eagle Butte over the past few days.

Although power is still out in the outlying areas, both power and water had been restored to Eagle Butte, and some other places on the reservation by Thursday the 28th.

[donheld]

35. Thank you for that update

[ooglymoogly]

36. self delete except for the KR

[winyanstaz]

38. Why isnt this on the front page of every newspaper and on every station?

People are dying right here at home...and not a peep?
This is the first I have heard about this and I watch the news every single day.
I am sending this link out to all my connections...please America...do the same..we need to get the word out!

[Delphinus]

49. Agreed.

Kicking for exposure.

[myrna minx]

40. This is horrible! K&R nt

[Nay]

42. This happened to us when we lived in Montana 30 years ago. All

the poles were knocked down for 200 miles. We didn't get electricity back for a couple of weeks, and it was 20 below outside. Thank heaven for wood stoves -- and wood.

[Codeine]

43. Sounds like winter in Wyoming in the 1970s.

Days on end without electricity, and we had no woodstove. We stayed with a neighbor that did have one when this happened; I spent the following summer chopping wood to repay her hospitality.

[zalinda]

44. Here is a place where you can help

http://www.lakotayouth.org/ A group that I belong to makes or buys items to send to the rez. Although it is called lakota youth they help all on the rez, from the youngest to the oldest. I just sent 2 boxes to The Main on Friday, filled with warm items. These items will be distributed to which ever area needs them the most.

Please go to the website and read up about what they are doing, and help them if you can.

zalinda

[NuttyFluffers]

48. bump for your link to a pro-active solution

:hi:

[douglas9]

47. Make CNN Cover Winter Emergency In Dakotas (Update)

From the Daily Kos ( Feb 1, 2010)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/1/832886/-Make-CNN-Cover-Winter-Emergency-In-Dakotas-(Update)