Severe flooding at Pine Ridge Reservation `a humanitarian disaster`
(WorldNews Environment)

The Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is facing what the New York Times has called `a humanitarian disaster that seems unlikely to abate soon.` In the aftermath of a blizzard that struck the state this month, severe flooding has inundated the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and trapped some people in their homes. As of Monday, there have been at least four deaths reported on the reservation as a result of the extreme weather conditions. Times journalist Mitch Smith wrote over the weekend that the crisis is a `collision of nature, poverty and inadequate infrastructure.` Tribal employees on Pine Ridge took a boat across a flooded dirt highway. There were people on the other side waiting, but...