Pine Ridge blizzard update relief, Nov. 14, 2008

Hello everyone,
Well, another storm has come in. We have 45 mph winds right now, gusts reaching 60 mph, light snow and icy roads. Pine Ridge and Rosebud are getting the same the weather there. I90 was closed in certain areas today and they were advising no travel, because of low visibility due to the wind and icy roads.
Sounds like alot of that has been lifted since earlier this afternoon. The good news is this is blowing over quickly and will be gone by tomorrow. At least this storm is not like the last one, it is light snowfall, as of now. I think it was originally going to hit us with quite a bit of snow, but the wind seems to be blowing it out quickly. It has been ten days, since the blizzard slammed us last week, there is still hundreds of people without power and heat. There has also been several reported deaths due to the storm, do not have exact details at the moment, but know there has been several.
I spoke with Monica at the Incident command center in Wanblee this morning. The power company has been working on installing new poles and they were hoping to have power back today. However with this wind, they may get hindered, see what happens. Some communities got power back already, Wanblee, Potato Creek, N. Allen are still without power.
Red Cross is continuing to deliver items to Wanblee and is on the way there now. Monica stated they need cleaning supplies. Once they can shut down the command center, after the electricity is back on, they have to clean the area up, so school can get back into session.
Crazy Horse School
Attn: Monica Perkildsen
101 School Rd, Wanblee, SD
The St Agnes Church is the command center for Parmelee on Rosebud Rez. I spoke with Jeannie Young, she has been handling the distributions and donations for the center. They are feeding people and distributing supplies. They are running very low and could use, diapers, batteries, candles, lanterns and oil, blankets and warm clothing.
Donations can be brought to: St Agnes Church Attn: Jeanne Young 1st St. NParmelee, SD 57566
605-747-5696
Wal Mart in Rapid City also donated alot of supplies for the rez. Sounds like some of the other stores are also stepping up as well. I was able to locate and secure and huge amount of firewood today. The donation is from a local contracting mill company, it just needs to be picked up in Hill City and taken to both rez's.
Have spoken to rep's from Rosebud and Pine Ridge to make them aware of the availability of wood, so now we are working on getting folks with trucks and/or trailers to pick it up and get it delivered. This is the challenging part, especially with the weather. They are trying to put crews together to get this done ASAP, hopefully over the weekend.
If you are local and can help pick up this firewood and take it to the rez, please email me directly with your contact info at tamra@ndnnews.com and I can call you and provide you the details where it is located, and in touch with the rep's from the Tribe(s) to arrange for delivery.
Spoke with the head of Forest Service and the Kernel at National Guard this morning, trying to get arrangements made for NG to get firewood picked up from Forest Service as well. Forest Service has use permits available for fire wood in areas of the Black Hills. NG can help, but the order has to come thru Emergency Management, so that is in the works.
This is also something that can be a year round project. it's going to be a long, cold and snowy winter, so the more firewood we can help get stocked up with, the better. Think it is going to be very needed this winter.
Monica mentioned this morning, that National Guard has been helping the power company get the poles replaced on Pine Ridge. Will keep you all posted, as developments come up.
Hopefully in the next few days, this nightmare will be over and the folks from the rez's will have power again and heat!
Thank you to everyone that has jumped in and helped get donations and things needed to the rez's! I know it is greatly appreciated. If you can help with the firewood delivery, please let me know! In peace & solidarity,
Tamra
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