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| Volume 19, Issue 1 | Summer 2007 |
Heavy Rains Lead to FloodingEastern South Dakota received a rash of heavy rain on the evening of May 5, 2007. The Aberdeen area received approximately 9 inches of rain during the weekend, with 3 inches of rain during a one-hour period at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Because of the large amount of rain, many transformers were put under water, and this created a whole new set of problems as electrical service was going down all over our community. A number of communities received as much or more rain within the first 24 hours of the storm.
Temporary housing was set up in many parts of the community. There were a number of streets where the only way in or out was by boat. Elderly and disabled individuals were moved to drier areas as needed. Emergency personnel, firefighters, and ambulance crews responded to numerous emergencies. Releasing of water out of the community did not begin until Tuesday, and it was set up so that our releases didn't have a negative effect on other communities downstream that also had flood problems of their own. There was a community meeting on Tuesday evening, and we made Ride Line available for anyone who wanted to attend. It was estimated that about 2,000 people were able to leave their home for the one-hour meeting with state, federal and local officials to review the plans for the upcoming days and to learn how to put together their claims for insurance or FEMA. The next week involved cleaning out basements that had flooded or were damaged. The city had National Guardsman, state workers, and city crews removing whatever was left at the curb. The City of Aberdeen is on its third round of trash pickup throughout the community. Within one week, the landfill manager, Mike Scott, said, "Since the flood, nearly 2,000 tons – or 4 million pounds – of trash have been hauled to the landfill."
There was one picture that I couldn't find to share with you, which was the fish that the kids caught in their own front yard. Until the early morning hours of May 6, 2007, I didn't think that I would ever be able to acquire lake front property! Photographs courtesy of The Aberdeen American News.
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Public transportation became limited because of the height of the water levels on some of the streets. We made ourselves available for Salvation Army, Emergency Management, and others who were displaced due to the storm.
Now that the waters have receded and the cleanup is in full swing, our transit agency has been struggling to determine where people are now living. Another problem is that the roads are starting to show some negative results from the flood. Numerous streets have been closed because of underground utility problems, failing pipes caving in, sinkholes showing up, and a host of new challenges for our street crews. Through it all, I remember the floods in North Dakota, and how that changed lives forever. I can see our lives have been changed in such a brief moment in time. I have a neighbor who moved back to South Dakota after the floods in Grand Forks. He told me that the Grand Forks flood was worse in comparison; I knew then that we have something to be thankful for.