Flooding in South Dakota, March 27 to 31, 1997

Runoff from the near record to record snowpack and ice jamming caused the James River to go above flood stage in northern Brown County the morning of the 27th. The James River continued to go above flood stage at all locations through Brown and Spink counties by the end of the month. Flood stage 1 mile west of Columbia is 11 feet, 1 mile south of Columbia is 13 feet, 7 miles southwest of Stratford is 14 feet, Ashton is 13 feet, and 3 miles northeast of Redfield flood stage is 20 feet. The river rose from 6 to 13 feet above flood stage and surpassed record stages at most of these points by the end of March and would eventually set record stages at all the points in April. The James River widened to nearly three quarters of a mile in some locations. Numerous county and townships roads were flooded and closed. Thousands of acres of farmland and pastureland were inundated by the rising river. Several farm houses and outbuildings were surrounded by water and were inaccessible. Some evacuations took place as result of the rising river, especially in Spink County.