Flooding in South Dakota, May 11 to 13, 1998

Heavy rain of 2 to 4 inches with some amounts nearing 5 inches fell across a large part of the six county area mainly on the evening of the 11th. This round of heavy rain only exacerbated the already extensive flooding occurring from many years of above normal precipitation. Day county was most affected by this round of heavy rain where area lakes were already at new record levels. Blue Dog, Waubay, Rush, and Bitter Lake in Day County were just a few of the lakes hard hit again. In fact, extensive sandbagging was done around Blue Dog Lake to save many homes. Some residents of Blue Dog Lake said they had never seen the lake so high in over 35 years of living there. Many more roads became flooded after this heavy rain event and will remain so for quite some time. Spots on US Highway 12 and US Highway 25 became flooded near Holmquist and Webster. Also, more of US Highway 212 4 miles east of Clark was flooded. Many area roads had to once again be built up. There remained only one road open to the town of Grenville in northeast Day County. Mail was delayed to many areas due to the road problems. Some school bus drivers said they had never seen rural gravel roads this bad. Also, some railroad tracks were washed out. In all six counties, the rising water took away many more acres of farm and pastureland, as well as drowning many crops that had already been planted. One farmer in Spink County said sixty percent of his farm was under water. Many farmers were unable to reach their fields because of the flooding. Some farmhouses and outbuildings became surrounded by water leaving some families stranded. After this heavy rain, around sixty percent of the crop and pastureland in Day county and one-third of it in Spink county had been inundated by a swollen water table and several years of above normal precipitation. Overall, the continued flooding has had a tremendous impact on the economy in the six county area. In April, Marshall, Day, Clark, Roberts, and Spink counties were all declared disaster areas as a result of the flooding. Some rainfall amounts included, 2.18 at Aberdeen, 2.29 5NE Peever, 2.41 at Clark, 2.60 at Groton, 2.63 at Conde, 3.10 at Sisseton, 3.60 at Turton, 3.81 at Waubay NWR, 4.01 at Doland, 4.52 at Webster, and 4.7 inches just north of Crocker in Clark county.