Huge Winter Storm Nails Great Plains, including Northern Cheyenne Reservation

For several years, the Great Plains area (in our case running from Billings to Rapid City) was favored by relatively mild winters. And, until the weekend of January 10-13, that continued to be the case; however, those conditions came to a screeching halt as Mother Nature paid a visit to the area.

To make up for lost time, she brought up to a foot of snow to most areas, but some, such as the remote district of Kirby on the reservation accumulated up to 18”, including large snow drifts. This all made for the annual cattle feeding much more difficult for area ranchers. In addition, on Friday the storm was proceeded by freezing rain which later contributed to icy and very treacherous road conditions.

As of Monday, many area roads were closed including the school bus route from Colstrip to Lame Deer, a twenty-mile one-way trip. Those buses eventually got running, but with a two-hour delay. The State High- way Departments servicing both the Big Horn and Rosebud County parts of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation were hard pressed to keep up with necessary plowing and sanding. Highway 212, for example, the main route to Rapid City was also closed for several hours, finally opening on Sunday.

On the reservation, many people were literally stuck in their driveways or more remote locations and local roads were very problematic.

By noon on Monday, however, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe was back in action. Some communications were conducted via remote means such as “Zoom” and internet technology, normally used to publicly air Tribal Council meetings.

Under the direction of Gene Small, Tribal President, the Tribal Transportation Program was put into action; plowing public streets and even traveling to individual residences to assist people who were stuck. Under a Facebook notice, tribal elders with health problems were supposed to receive first priority for this service. As of Tuesday, January 14, tribal snowplows were still working on the streets and the crew from the Tribal Land Authority was still busy helping people get mobile.

The Tribe has also issued an enrollment form and waiver for elders who may need transportation during this unusual spate of harsh weather;

The coming weekend is predicted to bring new temperature lows and more moisture into the area, which will surely continue challenges with local road travel. During that time, the Tribal Government has promised to “stand by,” especially for health emergencies as tribal members face another round of difficult weather conditions.

“These are times when people get stuck; vehicles won’t start or break down, leaving many local ranchers to battle with frozen water conditions. That is when feeding equipment also gives problems, breaking down or also getting “stuck” said Tom Lafranier who works for the Tribal Land Authority which has been detailed with much of the snow-related work.

The average January temperatures in Lame Deer are -16 below, but often dip down to -30. There are an estimated 9.8 snow days in Lame Deer, with snow accumulating up to 23.5 feet of snow. It is, however rare to get a foot or more at one time and many people are not fully prepared to deal with it.

(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennereview@gmail.com)

The post Huge Winter Storm Nails Great Plains, including Northern Cheyenne Reservation first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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