,
17 tweets,
7 min read
Read on Twitter
As floodwaters recede in much of the Midwest, portions of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota remain cut off by swamped roads. Supplies are being delivered by horse and helicopter. Tribal officials are exhausted and overwhelmed. nytimes.com/2019/03/24/us/…
These men on the Pine Ridge Reservation were preparing to take backpacks full of donated food to a woman stranded by flooding. In some places, it was easier to get around by horse than vehicle. 
Tribal employees on Pine Ridge took a boat across a flooded dirt highway. There were people on the other side waiting, but they did not get in. For some, there was an unenviable choice between being stranded at home or being rescued and becoming homeless.
Water was moving pretty fast across this highway near Wounded Knee. My shiny new rental Jeep, which had only 4 miles on the odometer when I picked it up, had a muddy first day, but made it through just fine.
This family on Pine Ridge lost five homes and a business in the flooding. On Friday, as the water continued to rise, you could hear the creek’s current, which sounded a bit like a faint jet engine.
The vastness of Pine Ridge is hard to describe. It’s bigger than Delaware, and many of its roughly 20,000 residents live miles from pavement. That makes disaster response much harder.
On South Dakota’s flooded Pine Ridge Reservation, tribal officials say they lack the manpower and equipment to reach everyone. Volunteers have rallied with supplies. Yesterday, Gov. Kristi Noem visited and the National Guard arrived to help distribute drinking water.
In some cases, they have, and airdrops were continuing Friday (though I did not witness any). Several people in medical distress had been evacuated by air ambulance, also.
At this community building in the town of Oglala, S.D., officials were trying to figure out a way to rescue a woman who is about 90 years old and whose house had been cut off by floodwaters. When I checked back later, they hadn’t yet reached her.
All across the Midwest, people are suffering from the floods. With planting season approaching, farmers whose fields and homes were destroyed are wondering what’s next. nytimes.com/2019/03/18/us/…
The damage to infrastructure will take at least many months and at least a billion dollars to repair. In the meantime, lives have been disrupted and getting to work or school has become a time-consuming burden. nytimes.com/2019/03/19/us/…
The conditions have posed new questions about the perils of riverfront living. One Iowa town tried and failed to save its levee after the last big flood, and now is largely underwater. nytimes.com/2019/03/20/us/…
In many hard-hit places in Nebraska and Iowa, water levels have fallen and the recovery has started. On Pine Ridge, where infrastructure and manpower are challenges, it remained a crisis of the moment.
I spoke with one woman on Pine Ridge who had been stranded since the 12th. With food running low, horseback riders attempted a delivery Friday but had to turn back because of the water. They returned hours later in a canoe with Hamburger Helper. “It was a relief,” she said.
One young man stuck at home on Pine Ridge, a college student who has missed classes because of the weather, was down to the last few containers of baby formula for his infant child.
One account of the scene today on Pine Ridge, where flooding continues.
An update on the situation at Pine Ridge, where some have been cut off by floodwaters and others are receiving their drinking water from the South Dakota National Guard.
