South Dakota communities still recovering from 2019 flooding

For cities across South Dakota, 2019 was a trying year, as water rushed into communities, flooding homes and causing property damage.

One of those cities was Sioux Falls.

"Financially it's about a $2.7 million impact on the city," Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken.

Also, significant damage happened in Dell Rapids. Flooding destroyed more than a dozen homes, and washed away the Dell Rapids St. Mary football field.

"Our community experienced record flooding, both in the spring of 2019 as well as the fall of 2019," Dell Rapids City Administrator Justin Weiland said. "The fall being the flood that had the most affect on the community."

In Madison, more of the same from the nearby lake and creeks that run through the city.

"There was a lot of house damage, a lot of property damage, of course we had some electrical boxes under water, which tripped the power for a lot of people," Madison Mayor Marshall Dennert said.

Because of the outlook for this coming spring, cities are preparing for the worst.

"We've gotten some reports from the state hydrologist that the water level in the river as well as our water tables are as high as they've ever seen them," TenHaken said. "Depending what our spring looks like in terms of snow, in terms of rapid thaw, we could be in store for more flooding."

But even with all the devastation, city officials couldn't be happier with how those in their communities came together throughout the recovery.

"The city itself, the city staff, Minnehaha County Emergency Management, worked really well together," TenHaken said. "But what's more impressive was all the community members who came out of the woodwork to help their neighbors."

Weiland says Dell Rapids is hesitant to repair everything that was damaged in this year's flooding because of what may be ahead in 2020.

63 of South Dakota's 66 counties are part of one, or several, of the four disaster declarations that President Donald Trump issued for the state in 2019.