On June 17, a squall line packing hurricane-force winds ripped through Pawhuska, leaving residents without power for days. Trees were uprooted and debris littered the streets. The town’s businesses closed and so did the Osage Nation.
ON Secretary of Development Casey Johnson woke up the next morning to dozens of text messages about the damage. He called in all the Tribal Works employees.
“I said, ‘Everybody get in. I’m going to need damage assessments on all the buildings, so I need the guys to go around, start checking buildings and we need to start clearing the road,’” he said.
Multiple buildings were damaged on the campus and beyond. Employees from Tribal Works, Wildland Fire, Emergency Management and Housing came together.
“I got some info from Jann [Hayman] that the sewer, because of the amount of rain, the sewer backed up,” Johnson said. “But this time it backed up into Harvest Land.”
The Welcome Center and the WahZhaZhe Early Learning Academy (WELA) were affected as well. At the time of publication, the Pawhuska WELA is still closed.
Parents who have children attending WELA were sent a text message from Pawhuska WELA Center Manager Tiffany Martin on Thursday evening.
“The restoration company removed all the fans today [Thursday],” the message said. “There were walls that are still wet, so sheetrock will have to be replaced in a few areas.”
The roof was heavily damaged, and the exact timeline of a fix is unclear.
“The main concern right now is our roof,” the message said. “The roof sustained major damage from an AC/heat unit that was blown over. This is not a quick or easy fix and there is no way to even fix it temporarily. With the rain that is forecasted for the next few days, the concern is that the building may sustain even more water damage. Our goal is to reopen on Monday, but we are at the mercy of the roofing company and the weather.”
The wooden footbridge on the east side of Harvest Land’s Heritage Trail was damaged when a large tree fell through part of the walkway, and it is currently closed.
“The WELA, some of the vents and stuff on the roof got ripped off,” Johnson said. “Water poured into WELA. Same thing happened at the old judicial building, the round building. The little skylight dome got ripped off and thrown somewhere, so it poured rain in there. Water had infiltrated the Welcome Center on the Tax Commission side and the Housing side.”
The housing department came in to do damage assessments at senior housing and houses in the homeownership program.
Crisis Assistance
With the majority of Pawhuska residents without electricity for days, many families lost the food stored in their refrigerators and freezers. The ON Financial Assistance office is helping Osage families living in Pawhuska with food loss and other expenses accrued during the blackout.
“The Crisis Program is available to enrolled members, who are experiencing an extraordinary situation which threatens their home, safety, sanitation or impairs the function of their primary vehicle,” Financial Assistance Director Andrea Kemble said. “Results of a natural disaster or fire impact Osage members, such as the recent storms. The Crisis Program can assist with temporary relocation, debris removal, food replacement and minor home repairs or insurance deductibles for Osage homeowners.”
At the time of publication, approximately 390 Osage households in Pawhuska had applied for food replacement assistance. Financial assistance had extended their office hours earlier in the week to help with the influx of applicants needing to replace food.
The crisis assistance application can be found online in the Osage Nation Service Portal and constituents are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Members can also apply in person. They will need a photo ID and recent utility bill. The food replacement assistance is in the form of a gift card or a gift certificate to the ON Butcher House.
Osage tribal member Trudy Kerby applied for the food replacement assistance following the storm. Her family went without power for three days.
“The $300 was great,” she said. “It helped me tremendously because we lost everything in the refrigerator in my standup freezer. I wasn’t going to have the money to go buy it.”
Kerby said the financial assistance team was very professional and she had a wonderful experience.
“I’m very grateful that those ladies stayed up there and worked until 7 p.m.,” she said. “Andrea’s team was wonderful. They were very polite with this all, and they cared. They were concerned, they were caring. Some of the older people, they need to hear that. I’m very pleased with Andrea’s team. I can’t say it enough.”
Kerby said she wished the Nation responded to the storm a little quicker.
“I wished the Osage Nation would have responded sooner, but I’m very grateful for what they did do,” she said.
Housing assistance
ON Housing offers programs to help with structural damage to homes.
“The Emergency Home Rehabilitation, funded by the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) for emergency home repairs that violate standards that place the homeowner and family members at serious or health risk,” Housing Program Coordinator Marissa Turley said. “In the case of storm damage, housing can expedite the process which removes the competitive bidding process for faster repair time. This program applies to structural damages only.”
The Emergency Home Rehabilitation is open to all Native Americans living in Osage County. For more information, constituents can visit the housing website.
Housing doesn’t currently offer programs for temporary housing in the event of storm damage, but there are a few other options for homeowners.
“We offer the voucher program to assist renters and homeowners with rent/mortgage and utilities in the event of a financial emergency,” Turley said. “Income guidelines, service area (Osage County), and verifiable out-of-pocket expenses are all required to qualify, also funded by IHBG.”
While cleanup efforts across the Nation’s campus and properties are ongoing, Johnson is proud of the crews involved in the process.
“We’re still trying to recover,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what the price tag’s going to be yet, but it could’ve been a lot worse.”
