Rural Cherokee community without heat and water

Wednesday, January 17, 2007  

A rural Cherokee/Keetoowah community in western Oklahoma has been without electricity and water since Friday.

Residents of Bullhollow, a small town near the Arkansas border, were hit by recent ice storms that crippled the state. President Bush declared a federal disaster but that hasn't helped the rural community.

"Nobody knows we are here," Adalene Smith, a former council member for the United Keetoowah Band, told The Native American Times.

Smith is worried that electricity and water service won't be restored for another three weeks. The fire department in Kansas, Oklahoma, is going to start distributing water and food to residents.

Get the Story:
Ice Storm effects Rural Indian community (The Native American Times 1/16)