PINE RIDGE RESIDENTS IN NEED OF PROPANE AND FOOD

Here is an excerpt from RAPID CITY JOURNAL

Five days after the storm hit on Christmas Eve, reservation residents are still facing unplowed roads, electrical outages, broken water pipes and diminishing supplies of food and fuel.

On Tuesday, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls declared a state of emergency for the reservation. Two Bulls and the tribe’s Emergency Management Team conferred Tuesday with representatives from the state Office of Emergency Management and road departments in Fall River, Custer and Haakon counties to coordinate snow removal efforts.

Maureen Last Horse agrees that her broken water pipes, impassable road and lack of propane constitute an emergency at her isolated home about 7 miles southwest of Kyle.

“Our water lines broke because we ran out of propane on the 23rd,” Last Horse said. She and her family, including a 3-year-old grandson, were forced to move into her sister’s home 2 miles away on Christmas Day. The extended family of eight is still miles from a plowed main road and were told by tribal officials that help may still be days away.

“They didn’t grade our road yet,” she said. “They said it would be a while.”

Tribal headquarters in Pine Ridge Village is being deluged with calls for help. As of Tuesday, OST Emergency Manager Monica Terkildsen had a list of 800 people without propane. That list is expected to grow by another 200, said Loretta Cook, public relations spokeswoman for the tribe.

Read the full article at RAPID CITY JOURNAL

Love and Rainbows to ORDINARY SPARROW for sending me this link…