B-r-r-r! Some area residents struggle for heat, shelter in cold temps

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Saturday, January 15, 2005

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The big chill will loosen its grip today and Sunday on the Black Hills as temperatures climb to 10 to 15 degrees.

And it could be a balmy 40 degrees by Tuesday.

Since the subzero arctic blast swept through Rapid City early Thursday, people have tucked themselves inside to wait for warmer days.

Cornerstone Rescue Mission has opened its doors to 103 transients daily needing a place to stay. According to officials, the men's dormitory is overflowing. Fifteen extra men have rolled out their blankets to sleep on the dining room and basement floors for the last two nights.

Dan Island, executive director at the mission, said two families have checked into the women's dormitory, leaving six beds open in the women's side of the shelter.

"We'll always find a place for people to sleep," Island said.

He said it is the normal cause-and-effect of single-digit weather. The only surprise is that there are a couple of empty beds available.

"The men's dorm is full, but we'll find them somewhere to sleep," he said.

So far, shelter officials haven't had to use contingency funds to house people in motels.

"If we get word that someone needs help, we respond," Jim Castleberry, assistant director, said.

Kitchen manager Michael Kettering said the normal count for lunches runs from 75 to 100 each day. In the past two days, his staff has served 120 people each day.

"When the weather gets cold like this, we see families come in," he said.

Castleberry said that although the frigid weather has forced everyone at the shelter to stay inside, they have gotten along.

"It's like having kids home during a snow day. It's been a little bit of a challenge," he said.

Daytime high temperatures were 2 degrees below zero downtown and zero degrees at Rapid City Regional Airport. Light snow fell throughout most of the day with accumulations totaling less than an inch in Rapid City but more in the higher elevations of the Black Hills.

Skiers will have at least 2 inches of fresh snow on the slopes waiting at the end of their chairlifts at Terry Peak near Lead. Snow fell most of the day there Friday withtemperatures climbing to 2 degrees, Jason Bergman, marketing director said.

For the past two days, the slopes have had plenty of elbow-room, but people started showing up Friday afternoon from Sioux Falls, Bismarck, N.D., as well as Gillette and Sheridan, Wyo., for the three-day weekend, he said.

"The surface conditions are excellent," Bergman said.

Officials at Deer Mountain did not return calls to the Journal.

The Rapid City Police Department has experienced a slowdown in 911 calls as the frigid weather clears the streets of evening traffic, Capt. Ed Hofkamp, commander of criminal investigations, said.

"During the nighttime hours in this frigid cold, our calls have been somewhat less," he said.

Hofkamp said one of the main concerns about the cold weather has been public safety. Officers have been asked to check the usual haunts of known transients and send them to shelters.

On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the harsh cold has brought some agencies to a standstill.

Severe cold and wind closed Crazy Horse School, halted bus runs, senior meal services and kept outdoor activity to a minimum, according to Phyllis Wilcox of Wanblee.

The severe cold had caused nine families to run out of propane by Thursday.

"They have no heat at all," she said. "I've been calling Rosebud for help with heating."

Wilcox's furnace ran two days on fumes before she received fuel from Rosebud Sioux Reservation's energy program. Rosebud President Charlie Colombe extended its program to fill propane tanks of the elderly in Wanblee.

Without a shelter or community center to house those without heat, they will have to live with relatives or live in the cold, she said.

"What can we do?" Wilcox said.

Currently, 1,700 households have applied and are eligible for energy assistance on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Three hundred more applicants remain on a waiting list, Robert Running Bear, director of energy assistance, said.

Running Bear and his staff have fielded about 500 calls since the mercury plunged two days ago. Twenty-five homes have reported broken pipes caused by freezing.

"They need propane, wood, and 60 to 70 percent of the calls regard electricity," he said.

Running Bear said that above all, these households feared having their electricity disconnected by power companies because it may be their only source of heat.

"Reconnects are $200 per family. That eats up a lot of my budget in no time," Running Bear said.

Over the course of the week, he has spent hours on the phone negotiating with power companies to leave the electricity on during the weather crisis.

"The bitter cold doesn't help any of this," he said.

On Friday afternoon, the temperature in downtown Pine Ridge had topped out at 3 degrees. Running Bear said the office expected more cold air to plunge evening temperatures to more than 10 degrees below zero with 9 mph winds.

"You can imagine the wind chill," he said.

With the current draw downs of fuel-assistance funds, Running Bear said that nearly all of his resources have been depleted.

"We have a crisis," he said.

Heating funds

A fund has been established to help those short on heating funds this winter. Checks or money orders made out to Bob's Gas Service are being accepted by the Winter Heating Project for the Elderly, P.O. Box S, Martin, SD 57551.