After tornado disaster, Osage Nation provides rapid relief

Written By: Chelsea T. Hicks

(OSAGE RESERVATION) Barnsdall has switched from rescue to recovery mode and has assistance from FEMA, Red Cross, the Oklahoma Department of Homeland Security and the Osage Nation, which deployed recovery funds, emergency management services and volunteers first.

Read this story on Osage News here. 

On May 16 at a press conference at Barnsdall High School, Mayor Johnny Kelley announced tearfully that the Osage Nation allocated $120,000 in immediate relief funds as well $350,000 in additional funding to Osage Housing. The rapid assistance, he said, is a contrast to other governmental aid.

“The Red Cross and the Oklahoma Emergency Management system, FEMA, all the resources that are here, they’re a long process, but what the Osage Nation, the way their government works, they’re able to provide this assistance really fast so we can get started on some things. The Osage people are such a loving, caring bunch of people, and they never cease to amaze me,” said Kelley.

The funds will be for the whole community of Barnsdall, not only for the 229 Osages who reside in the area. Assistant Principal Chief RJ Walker declared a state of emergency for the Osage Nation on May 7, and the Nation led the response effort, as 13 Osage entities coordinated recovery efforts, including the Executive, Police, Congress, Emergency Management, Wildland Fire, the Wahzhazhe Health System, Housing, Financial Assistance, Butcher House, Osage Casinos, Shipping & Receiving, Tribal Works and Constituent Services.

Asst. Chief Walker outlined the immediate response, saying, “The night that the tornado hit, I got a hold of our Secretary of Development Casey Johnson and directed him to have tribal works and housing employees down there to start helping with the recovery efforts. ONPD was down there immediately after the tornado came through, and then Wildland Fire was down there. They were there that night, both departments, and they worked throughout the night.”

According to Ross Walker of Wildland Fire, the town is about four to five weeks ahead of schedule compared to similar-level disaster response efforts. “We’re killing it, you can see progress every single day,” he said and noted that it has been the volunteers who have been doing the physical labor of cleanup. Those volunteers numbered up to 800 per day, flocking to Barnsdall from as far as Virginia, Canada and Mississippi to provide aid, Walker said.

“All the words and all the prayers, it’s real,” said Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. “I just want to stress how much we appreciate each and every person who is here.”

The current estimate of homes damaged is at 185, with 64 homes leveled and 121 significantly damaged. Assistant Chief Walker said he is familiar with the lengthy timeline and problems that arise when a house is destroyed, such as nagging questions of when to call it on efforts of retrieving items from rubble—as well as where to store them. Walker nearly lost everything last year to a devastating house fire.

The casino provided 180 rooms to victims of the hurricane, extending help to all in need, not only Osages. In comped room fees, this totaled $16,000 in aid, but people who are without vehicles and ways to access storage have been stalled when it comes to cleanup efforts.

“People lost vehicles, people lost their entire homes, some people lost their family members,” said Marissa Turley, who is on Barnsdall’s city council. “And what were they supposed to do with those totes and tubs?” The need for storage inspired Osage Nation Congress to begin developing a bill to cover the cost of POD storage units, but ultimately, they designated relief funds as open, for whatever needs the town had.

Other numbers reported for the Barnsdall recovery effort include 27 nursing home residents who have been displaced to other locations, 35 meters of electricity running into homes that have been shut off, 37 overnight shelter stays, 257 citizens and counting served by FEMA, 5,192 meals served plus thousands more in snacks, 25 storm-related direct rescues, and 33 patients served at the Osage Nation mobile health clinic.

Wildland Fire has deployed equipment to the cleanup effort, including an excavator, compact track-loaders, a dozer and a semi. Recovery efforts are prioritizing the southeast quadrant of the city first, said Ross Walker. “There is a systematic approach to this,” he said, but they will not overlook anyone.

Ten other tribal nations and one intertribal organization also offered support to the Osage Nation in their emergency management efforts as the disaster began. “What a great collection of first responders,” said Bobby Tallchief of emergency management, who worked closely with Walker of Wildland Fire. On the national incident rating scale, the disaster is considered level 3 out of 5. Immediate remediation for the tornado, which had a path of roughly 40 miles, will span a timeline of three to six months, said Walker.

“There’s rural people, rural citizens that were affected the same, they’re just not noticed yet on national news. There are other people that we have not forgotten about that we’ll be sending liaisons out, field reconnaissance, field scouts,” he said.

Walker is from Barnsdall and has managed disaster efforts before. He said that undertaking such an effort in his own hometown is different. Currently on day 11 of disaster response, he is now preparing for the arrival of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, which will be hauling green waste as well as debris. 

“That was a monster storm,” said Asst. Chief Walker. “People are trying to recover, walking in their houses and pulling out clothes and dishes and pots and pans and pictures. I’ve heard numerous people reach out … I had one individual tell me that they found a picture of his wife 100 miles away.”

Barnsdall citizens, said Ross Walker, “are just in awe. Monday was a normal day and Tuesday was a 180.” All the support from the Osage Nation has made a world of difference, said Walker as well as Mayor Kelley. “Barnsdall is your town, it’s an Osage town,” he told Osage Nation Congress during discussions of relief aid on Thursday. “It wouldn’t be there if not for the Bigheart family and the Red Eagle family.”

“I love you,” he said to the Nation during the session. “I love you all, and I don’t throw that word around lightly. It’s a powerful word, and I mean it.”

There are ongoing needs for volunteer aid, and those who would like to help can check in at the Incident Command Post at Barnsdall Elementary School in the gymnasium. Morning briefing is at 8 a.m., and those who can’t make it then can arrive whenever they are able, and they will receive a specific task and assignment.

For Barnsdall and surrounding residents affected in any way by the tornado, they are encouraged to attend a multi-agency resource center event set up by the Red Cross in Barnsdall on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Barnsdall Elementary School, 401 S. 10th Street. All affected by the storm in any way are encouraged to attend.