The rain, plus heavy snowpack beginning to melt in the Rocky Mountains, has the Army Corps of Engineers increasing water releases through the six Missouri River dams to get rid of water as quickly as possible as flooding continues.
Here is an update on our tribal college communities that are impacted:
Montana
At Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, more than 30 individuals continue to be housed in a shelter at Crow Agency on the Crow Reservation, displaced by flooding there.
Stone Child College at the Rocky Boy Reservation is now operating a shelter. Stone Child’s operation is independent of The Montana Red Cross, and needs cots, blankets, and food if the situation worsens.
On the Ft. Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, home to Fort Peck Community College and near the Fort Peck Dam, the spillways are open and the tribe is seeking volunteer workers for emergency sandbagging efforts through this Sunday, June 11, to protect sewage lagoons to ensure that drinking water there is not tainted by flooding.
Nebraska
South Sioux City, home to a branch of Nebraska Indian College, is still experiencing flood conditions.
North Dakota
In Ft. Yates, home to Sitting Bull College and the Standing Rock Reservation, which also straddles the North and South Dakota border, the threat of flooding is not as dire as it is for Bismarck and communities to the north, but sandbagging efforts are continuing alongside work by the Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen a dike and build a rock wall to protect a key road that leads to the island which is home to the entire town of Ft. Yates. An emergency shelter has been opened to feed volunteer workers and serve as shelter when and if the waters rise.
Bismarck, North Dakota is bracing for the highest flows of all of the cities. Bismarck is home to United Tribes Technical College, where an emergency shelter has been set up and waits to serve the community if needed.
