'It has never been this bad': How one South Dakota city is facing the floodwaters

While many parts of South Dakota have faced record flooding and other severe weather this year, one small city is an example of how serious the problem is.

Lake Andes, which has a population of fewer than 1,000 residents, has been virtually underwater since widespread flooding began in March.

Kristin Dvorak has lived in Lake Andes for 14 years. She says she is frustrated by the situation and the perceived lack of attention being paid to the city.

"It has never flooded like this. It has never been this bad," she said. "There's got to be something more that can be done."

Ryan Frederick, the mayor of Lake Andes, says he is working with Charles Mix County Emergency Management to find a solution to the flooding.

"We really don't have a lot of options," Frederick said.

One of the larger concerns is the town's lift station, which feeds the town's new school, medical clinic, police station and nursing home. The lift station is at risk of being compromised. If that happens, Frederick says the students, nursing home residents and jail inmates will all have to be transferred somewhere else, and the clinic will close.

In addition, Dollar General — one of the city's two grocery stores — has been shuttered for a week after the road leading to it washed out, Frederick said.

Despite the difficulties it is facing, Lake Andes is doing what it to stave off further damage. Inmates from the Charles Mix County Jail placed about 2,000 sandbags around the lift station in attempts to save it, but it is still at risk, Frederick said. The city is also working with Dollar General's corporate office to try to build a temporary access road to the store so it can reopen.

The mayor says he is worried about the impact closed businesses and flooded roads will have on the town's economy, both for workers and residents of peripheral communities that utilize Lake Andes businesses.

"It hurts everybody all the way around," he said.

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Highway 18, one of the main roads in and out of Lake Andes, was closed between May and August due to water over the road. It reopened in August for less than two weeks before flooding again.

As of Friday, two feet of water is sitting on the highway with nowhere to go, Frederick said.

As winter inches ever closer, Lake Andes will have to prepare for potentially even more water. 

"We need to be proactive instead of reactive," Frederick said. "This water obviously isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon."

Lake Andes is one of many South Dakota cities waiting on potential federal and state aid to help restore it. Other communities, like Renner and Dell Rapids, were also pummeled by the flooding.

While a permanent solution to the city's crisis has not yet presented itself, Frederick isn't giving up hope.

"We know we're not the only place that got hit," Frederick said. "We'll get through it."

But for those who have lived with the flooding for months on end, the situation is beginning to feel desperate. Dvorak compared the ongoing problem to the movie "Groundhog Day," in which the main character experiences the same day again and again.

"It's kind of like that. You're reliving the same horrible situation over and over," she said. "It really wears on you emotionally, physically."

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