Flooding in South Dakota, April 1 to 30, 1997

Late March flooding from the meltdown of the near record to record snowpack continued across parts of central and north central South Dakota and most of northeast South Dakota through the month of April. Much of the snowpack across northeast South Dakota melted in the first week of April. The massive amount of water flooded hundreds of sections of county and township roads as well as many state and federal highways. The inundated sections of roads were either broken up or washed out. Hundreds of culverts were blown out or damaged and many bridges were either damaged or washed out by chunks of ice and the highwater flow. Thus, road closures were extensive with rerouting taking place for the majority of people, especially school buses, mail carriers, farmers, and ranchers. Some people had to drive many miles out of their way to reach their destination and mail carriers would only deliver to accessable farms. For some counties, this was the most extensive damage ever done to their road system. Many spillways and dams received some damage or were washed out. Also, thousands of acres of farmland and pastureland were underwater. Many of those acres of farmland were not planted at all or there were significant delays in planting. High groundwater continued to result in a countless number of homes with water in their basements. Also, many sewer and drinking water systems were threatened, damaged, or had to be shutdown because of the highwater. In rural areas, especially in northern South Dakota east of the Missouri River, several homes were surrounded by water and were inaccessable, leaving some people stranded and livestock marooned. Also, several residences and businesses across the area were flooded and significantly damaged. The cities of Hecla, Claremont, and Willow Lake experienced major flooding with evacuations taking place. Most railroads across the area were significantly affected where trains had to move along at tip-toe pace over soggy railbeds while rail links to some towns were severed due to washouts. The communities mainly affected were Redfield, Claremont, Amherst, Britton, Sisseton, Milbank, Pierre, Blunt, Tulare, and Aberdeen. Many long-term residences said this was the worst flooding they had seen in their lifetimes. Little precipitation through mid to late April allowed for a significant reduction in the flooding. Although, much of the area remain flooded into May. The total damage estimate for the March and April flooding which included road damage, home damage, sewer and water system damage, was 35 million.