South Dakota leaders are beginning the long process of assessing and repairing damage from June’s severe weather. Multiple tornadoes touched down in east-central South Dakota, and the western and southeastern parts of the state experienced flooding. Officials are requesting help from the federal government to restore mother nature’s destruction.
South Dakota is requesting money and resources from FEMA both to repair public infrastructure and support private property owners. Governor Dennis Daugaard’s official request for individual assistance is in the hands of the president and federal authorities. Daugaard says homeowners and business owners should qualify for federal relief because one system of storms caused flash flooding and vicious tornadoes.
Jason Bauder coordinates the presidential disaster declarations for South Dakota’s Office of Emergency Management.
"Typically when we have a disaster, we’re dealing with public infrastructure such as roads and bridges and county- and city- and township-owned facilities, but this one affected so many residents – their actual homes," Bauder says. "And we’re able to go in and do an assessment and got to a level that we felt that we were comfortable in asking for an individual assistance disaster declaration."
State officials say dozens of homes were damaged and destroyed when a tornado hit Wessington Springs on June 18th. Two days before, flash flooding along the Big Sioux River left homeowners coping with water inside their houses. The state says about 90 percent of the homes in the community of Canton alone have flood damage.
The individual assistance request includes people in Jerauld, Lincoln and Union Counties. Emergency Management’s Jason Bauder says property owners can tap into resources if the president approves the request.
"There’s a process that would be in place after that where they would call a 1-800 number, and they would enter in all their information there to apply for the grant, as long as you’re within those three counties that the request was made for," Bauder says. "Then that application gets worked through FEMA to see what you may qualify for."
Bauder says South Dakota could hear whether the application is approved in days or weeks.
Bauder says the state hasn’t yet filed a request for public disaster aid. He says FEMA officials are coming to South Dakota next week to assess storm damage in 12 separate counties. After state officials know those preliminary numbers, the governor can decide whether to move forward with a presidential disaster declaration request for public assistance.
