CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX RESERVATION – Rain, floods, tornados and even a blizzard rumbled through the Northern Plains this spring and early summer to wreak havoc with Indian communities that now face recovery funding challenges and months of rebuilding.

For instance, three weeks after tornadoes hit villages on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation damage reports still are coming in daily.

“There are no solid figures for the damage from the two storms, the one in January and the tornados, because we are still getting daily assessments,” said Sharon Lee, vice chairman for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

This past January, Cheyenne River was hit with one of the worst winter storms the community had seen in years. The storm left many without power, water and access to main roads for two weeks due to 5-foot snow drifts that covered reservation roads. June’s tornado storms added to the damage, while blizzard recovery remained incomplete.

“We were already trying to rebuild from the January storm when the tornados hit,” said Lee. “The repair damage for homes was estimated at $590,000 last time I checked.”

A fund was set up to accept private donations to repair homes that were damaged from the storms. The recovery fund still is accepting donations, she said.

Cheyenne River’s tribal government remained intact throughout both storms sustaining little to no damage, but the same cannot be said for the Yankton Sioux Tribe.

“Some people lost everything in that flood,” said Karen Archambeau, vice chairman for Yankton. “We have had three floods before, but none like this fourth one. It was the worst.”

Floodwater more than 5-feet deep swept through the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation on June 12, taking with it buildings, vehicles and homes, according to tribal officials.

“One woman tried to drive through the flood waters in her Jeep to go to work and the water took the Jeep with her in it,” said Archambeau. “She had to open her back window to climb out and swim to shore. She was lucky to be alive.”

Tribal government buildings and Marty Indian School were the main structures in the path of the quickly rising flood water.

“We got scattered all over the place,” said Archambeau. “Some of us (tribal government workers) are working here out of the BIA building. Some are up at the Marty Indian School library because it wasn’t taken. Some are up in the transportation building … We are just all over the place.”

Without the tribal office building, the tribe has administrators and staff using cell phones to communicate.

“It has been difficult not having that day-to-day communication with everyone being scattered everywhere,” said Robert Cournoyer, Yankton Sioux tribal chairman. “We are working very hard to get a temporary headquarters in the next week and a half to get everyone back under one roof again.”

Financial help came from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Services (IHS) for $20,000. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated $100,000 to the reservation residents – residents who lost everything in the flood.

“Shakopee was good to us. The city did nothing. Neither did the bank,” Archambeau said. “So, we took our money out of that bank and put it into another bank.

The Yankton Sioux Tribe is using its own funds to repair storm damages sustained by the flood. The tribe has “moved forward” with funding repairs, no longer waiting for donations – though they remain welcome.

“We got some help from FEMA and the Red Cross but not much for money,” Cournoyer said. “There is no insurance money from the companies yet, but everything worked out.”

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse 70 percent of the money the Yankton tribe uses to rebuild the reservation infrastructure.

“Whether we are reimbursed through the insurance companies or FEMA, we know we will not get 100 percent of our money back,” said Cournoyer. “We are spread thin but we will make it, we are pretty resilient.”

One thing that the Cheyenne River Sioux and the Yankton Sioux have in common is that neither was declared “disaster areas” by the governor nor the president. The Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana, however, was declared a disaster area by President Barack Obama on July 11.

Signing the declaration for Rocky Boy means that federal money will be available for eligible local governments, state and certain nonprofit groups for emergency work and repair.

From June 17-20, rainfall from 4- to 5-inches drenched the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in eastern Montana.

“The heavy rainfall, coupled with pre-existing saturated soils from heavy winter snows and spring rains, caused damage to homes, roadways, bridges and utilities, damage assessments and recovery operations are ongoing,” stated the Department of Interior Emergency Management’s Daily Situation Report.                  

About 50 families were displaced from their homes by the flooding and an initial assessment by federal, state and tribal officials put the total damage at around $6 million, according to Monique Lay of the Montana Disaster and Emergency Services.

– Published with permission of Native Sun News


Contact Estella Claymore at:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Dear Editors:

I attempted to e-mail Estella Claymore regarding her story “Storms rip reservations” that ran July 14 in the Native American Times. Unfortunately, the e-mail address listed at the bottom of the story (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) did not work. I appreciated your publications covering the disaster recovery efforts taking place on reservations in South Dakota and Montana. There are a couple of items I’d like to clarify regarding the information reported.


First, the story indicated that the Yankton Sioux Tribe was not declared a disaster area by the President. In fact, the Yankton Sioux Tribe is eligible to apply for federal disaster assistance under the Public Assistance declaration the President approved on May 13, 2010. This declaration allows the tribe to be reimbursed for emergency protective measures and the repair or rebuilding of publicly-owned facilities and infrastructure damaged by flooding March 10-June 20.



In addition, the story listed the federal cost share for Public Assistance at 70 percent. The federal cost share for Public Assistance under a major disaster declaration is actually 75 percent.



In addition to FEMA assistance, the State of South Dakota also provided help. Terry Woster with the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management can provide additional details on assistance from the state. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (605) 773-3178.



Thank you for the opportunity to clarify this information. If you have any additional questions or decide to write additional stories relating to FEMA’s role in disaster response and recovery please don’t hesitate to contact our office. Our 24-hour contact number is (303) 235-4908. We always appreciate the opportunity to provide accurate information regarding FEMA programs in your communities.

Sincerely,

Derek Jensen

External Affairs Specialist

FEMA Region VIII

Denver, CO

(303) 242-1014